First Term Free at Walden!

[SweetSecret]

For those of you who did enroll in the MBA & are getting it "free" were you told you would be financially responsible for anything? I.e. fees, books, etc? I am admittedly still slightly tempted. I think I would also fo the MBA in Healthcare.

Alternatively, I am tempted to see if WGU would price match the free tuition for a term. Granted, I would really like the other concentration from Walden, but that would cost an extra $12-$15k either way, and I am more confident about moving through WGU's MBA faster because so many thiers have already done it.

[Ideas]

Granted, I would really like the other concentration from Walden, but that would cost an extra $12-$15k either way, and I am more confident about moving through WGU's MBA faster because so many ithers have already done it.

Why do you want the social entrepreneurship concentration, to start a business? In the business world, it seems like nobody would really pay attention to a concentration.

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I am doing the early childhood/administration MS.  I am hoping to earn enough Ed. Leadership courses to get an administrative certificate.  I was accepted this afternoon.

Not surprising to see you here 

I'm glad someone else is doing the same program

I want to do 6-8 courses in my first term. Ideally I would only have 2 plus Capstone for my second term. But, I'll have to see how much time I have in the first term.

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Which concentration did you choose?

The admin one, like eriehiker. So we're still missing one concentration.

[allvia]

For those of you who did enroll in the MBA & are getting it "free" were you told you would be financially responsible for anything? I.e. fees, books, etc? I am admittedly still slightly tempted. I think I would also fo the MBA in Healthcare.

Alternatively, I am tempted to see if WGU would price match the free tuition for a term. Granted, I would really like the other concentration from Walden, but that would cost an extra $12-$15k either way, and I am more confident about moving through WGU's MBA faster because so many ithers have already done it.

What I know is that the first term (3 months) is Free. We all jumped on this pretty quickly, and competency based education generally includes the materials.  I don't expect to finish in the 3 months, although I am going to give it a great effort to see how far I can get in that time.  I look at this as a "Try It Risk Free" offer - because if after the 3 months I don't like it, it's not a good fit, there are unplanned for expenses, etc - I just won't continue.

Walden is RA and the MBA is ACBSP accredited, all that I am looking for - the fact they offer a concentration that aligns well with my professional goals made it a no brainier for me.  They are however a for-profit school and this December sign up is not just a way for them to increase enrollment, but I have little doubt that they will be taking these "Free Tuition for a Term" grants as a write-off for the 2018 year.  That is a win for me enrolling now, and no different than when Study.com offered the Guardian Scholarship in example (either SDC or Guardian took that credit)

WGU does offer scholarships for their master programs, but a free term would be highly unlikely as there is no benefit to a non-profit giving such a thing away.  Plus WGU tuition is extremely affordable, and if this Walden MBA does not work out as I hope it will - they will be my next school.  With that said, I am very hopeful that it will work out and the type of self-driven learning, and credit earning methods I have learned with the help of this forum will move me forward to completely this MBA within the time and budget I have set aside beyond the free term.  It would be great to have others on this forum join us!

[sanantone]

For those of you who did enroll in the MBA & are getting it "free" were you told you would be financially responsible for anything? I.e. fees, books, etc? I am admittedly still slightly tempted. I think I would also fo the MBA in Healthcare.

Alternatively, I am tempted to see if WGU would price match the free tuition for a term. Granted, I would really like the other concentration from Walden, but that would cost an extra $12-$15k either way, and I am more confident about moving through WGU's MBA faster because so many ithers have already done it.

I'm watching the introductory videos, and all the study materials appear to be free. I haven't been charged any fees yet.

[SweetSecret]

Why do you want the social entrepreneurship concentration, to start a business? In the business world, it seems like nobody would really pay attention to a concentration.

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I want to do consulting specifically for social enterprises. I literally just took the LSAT but didn't get to study as much as I would have liked because I ended up being voted onto a local non-profit board who has needed major fundraising in the midst of my studying. So I want to take the LSAT again when I am better prepared. I know I did well enough to get into the state school, but I want to keep all my options open and get as much in scholarships as possible. 

I'm watching the introductory videos, and all the study materials appear to be free. I haven't been charged any fees yet.

Thanks for the information! You are making me want to bite on this even more. Does it look like there are any major papers? I just looked back at WGU and I am wondering if I am locked in at their old rate. If not, it might be worth going with Walden because if I could do this in 6 months with the 3 months of free tuition it would end up being cheaper. I looked at the Better Business Bureau this morning though and WGU looks better there. Decisions, decisions...

[bjcheung77]

Sweetsecret, If I was in your shoes, I would bite that bullet even though Walden is a for profit and WGU is a non profit. Either way you flip it, you will get an RA degree and also ACBSP accreditation. If you can finish the degree in two terms, it's going to be cheaper going with Walden...

For competency-based programs, the books/materials and other resources should be included. I would get an application into them and start working on that Masters! Good Luck, you can always see if you might be able to transfer credit from Walden to WGU if that term doesn't feel right, just make sure to get through a few of those courses for FREE!

[sanantone]

WGU does not accept transfer credits at the graduate level.

https://www.wgu.edu/admissions/transfers.html

I'd rather not have a for-profit school on my CV/resume, but this degree would only be used for the federal government, and they don't care.

[SweetSecret]

I literally just got off the phone with WGU, they won't accept transfer credits, and their rate in January is raising to $3,800 plus $145 book and resource fee. BJCheung77, you are right that Walden actually would be cheaper even if I had to string it out to 9 months. WGU also told me it takes at least two months for their Capstone. Walden wasn't sure how long their capstone takes, but there definitely is writing involved in the degree. On the plus side, unlike WGU, Walden's student work is actually graded by the professors.

"Classes" are graded too. I can't recall but it seems like WGU is pass/fail.

Justin is going to check to see if I would need to re-take the capstone if I do the competency based MBA in Healthcare and then complete the Social Entrepreneurship & Innovation track. If not, it would only be 3 more classes, which would end up being cheaper than a graduate certificate in social enterprise!

Personally, I don't mind it that Walden is for-profit... but probably only because they are a registered B-Corp, which I am obviously a fan of.

Also, for the competency based MBA, Justin said people have until December 7th to enroll!

[sanantone]

Personally, I don't mind it that Walden is for-profit... but probably only because they are a registered B-Corp, which I am obviously a fan of.

It wouldn't bother me that much if it were APUS. Walden just has a bad reputation, and it only took them a few hours for them to admit me. While convenient, this is the first time I've had an RA school admit me the same day and only ask for my transcript with the conferred bachelor's degree. It saves me money, but now I see why they have their reputation. They'll order your transcripts, but it was recommended that I order one myself since they have a backlog. I will say that my enrollment advisor was very nice, professional, and transparent. It is also nice that students' assignments are graded by instructors with doctoral degrees in the field, and you can contact them for help anytime.

[Ideas]

"Classes" are graded too. I can't recall but it seems like WGU is pass/fail.

Justin is going to check to see if I would need to re-take the capstone if I do the competency based MBA in Healthcare and then complete the Social Entrepreneurship & Innovation track. If not, it would only be 3 more classes, which would end up being cheaper than a graduate certificate in social enterprise!

Yeah WGU is pass/fail. They put on your transcript that pass is at least a B/3.0, but you still have no GPA officially. 

That would be great. I should have thought of that option for the MBA