My Grad School Thoughts - Masters/PHD

[RANSOMSOUL]

C200 Managing Organizations & Leading People - 2 Papers
C211 Global Economics for Managers 1 Exam
C202 Managing Human Capita 1 Exam
C204 Management Communication 1 Oral Presentation, 1 Paper
C212 Marketing 2 Papers, 1 Exam
C213 Accounting for Decision-makers 1 Exam
C206 Ethical Leadership 3 Papers
C214 Financial Management 1 Exam
C207 Data-Driven Decision Making 2 Papers, 1 Exam
C215 Operations Management 1 Exam
C216 Capstone 6 quizzes, Team Simulation, 3 papers, Oral Presentation

[Ideas]

I'm starting to think Patten is risky. If you pay and then feel like it's unfair, it might be a really expensive couple classes that was completed. I wonder if someone can pay just 1 month's amount, and if they dislike the program, drop out and not be on the hook for the other 3 payments. Especially if you have a reason such as an unfair exam. I would be a lot more willing to try it if I "only" lost $520 instead of $1996, but it's not just the money. It would also be a frustrating month and the few classes taken could be a pain to transfer. WGU seems to be relatively risk-free since lots of people complete it in 1 term.

I think I should not worry a lot about GPA or lack of GPA.

[posabsolute]

It's funny as a for-profit, you would think they would monitor forums like this, great opportunity for them to "unrisk" their MBA...

[jsd]

 I wonder if someone can pay just 1 month's amount, and if they dislike the program, drop out and not be on the hook for the other 3 payments.

They make you commit for at least one term at a time, and give you a discount if you commit to more than a term. They will not let you enroll for just a single month.

[Ideas]

Not surprising about the full term.

[RANSOMSOUL]

Policy lists as 1 term but I was able (just asked) to be on a monthly payment. I have talked about it the forum - completed 2 classes and just couldn't get a good feel/rhythm for the structure and decided to request a cancellation. They were really decent about it and even gave me partial credit because I was under a month.

I was not fully committed to Patten when I enrolled and feel I never gave the program a far shake. Patten has reached out multiple times and each time there is a little pull to complete the program. I'm sure I'll be celebrating someone else before the push is enough to go back.

[Ideas]

Bjcheung, do you know any doctorates that don't require oral defense, which are cheaper/faster than average? Maybe the thesis by publication types. I am considering overseas too, if the school has a decent rep. Not needing a Masters might speed things up for me (but as you know a Masters is obtainable in about 6 months).

[Thorne]

You won't find a PhD that doesn't require oral defense of some kind, IIRC. A general Doctorate (DBA, DSc, etc) may only require a massive project instead of a thesis.

That said, I remember seeing a post on our sister forum about how Australian schools don't often do oral defenses because all the PhDs on the panel don't want to fly to a single spot. With the advent of Skype, this may have changed.

[germ]

Hi
Patten MBA info here:
Material = 8 Units. Min 3-6 objectives per unit. Min. 4-8 sub-objectives per objective. All units, objectives, and sub-objectives have a voluminous amount of material and the sub-objectives are broken down into smaller sub-sub-objectives if that makes any sense. Almost all of the in-depth readings are from Harvard which is good.
Each Unit Mandatory Work = (Paper to prof (not graded), self-assessed paper, flashcards(almost each objective and every unit), quizzes(not graded) (you have to take all of these and pass and are tracked for and by prof for your progress), 2-3 page graded paper after every 2nd unit which is 4 total before end of course.
End of course = prefinal (which you have to pass to get to the final project and final exam), final project (paper (12- ? page paper, powerpoint, video or project), and a final in-depth comprehensive exam.
The person there said the fastest she ever saw one go through the program was taking 4 or possibly 5 courses a semester (16 weeks). That equates to a minimum 1 year and $6,000. Throw in the final with the possible questions from hell and it will be a very rough go. What was someone saying about no one finishes and they fade away?
Just sayn'....haha

[Ideas]

The person there said the fastest she ever saw one go through the program was taking 4 or possibly 5 courses a semester (16 weeks). That equates to a minimum 1 year and $6,000. Throw in the final with the possible questions from hell and it will be a very rough go. What was someone saying about no one finishes and they fade away?
Just sayn'....haha

Someone on this forum finished in 4 months for under $2000... while pregnant and caring for a young child. She was writing a lot per week. She had been told nobody else had done it. There are not many others that we know of who attempted Patten.