Walden University Reviews of Master's in Counseling

Want to hear all about social justice, but not about things you need to know as a counselor? Do you enjoy being taught by people who have never left the university to work in the counseling field, and dress like circus freaks? Do you love paying money for the privilege of pretending you take any of those people seriously? Then Walden is the place for you! Every single article, video, and writing assignment is all about how everybody who isn't white is poor and downtrodden, and the people who are... Read More white aren't worthy of your attention. Don't go here if you can avoid it.

Walden is an an excellent school for someone looking for an actual professional level degree. It is NOT a degree for someone unwilling to do the work, to change and challenge themselves, or meet professional level expectations. It is a true Masters Level program, delivered 90% online, and that means the onus to get the work done and do well is on YOU. The professors in these courses are all Doctors, who are working clinically in the field, and have years of experience. They have written textbooks,... Read More and served on national and state accredication boards. Walden truly cares about the level of professional they are putting out into the world, and it shows. They have help lines across the board, from IT, paper writing, library and research, mental health and many financial and scholarship programs. However, none of it will be handed to you. You have to do the work to find help if it is necesarry. Many people begin a degree without understanding the requirements and then refuse to accept their own culpability in thier failure to succeed. Walden is NOT easy, but it absolutely does prepare you for a degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling, including forcing you to look at your state liscensure requirements, as well as preparing you for your state liscensure test. Good luck and I absolutely DO reccomend Walden University.

Loved my program at Walden. COVID hit while I was a student. The university and faculty supported students and their families by allowing leniency. The student assistance program offers 3 free counseling sessions for students, their families, their roommates. You can get 3 free sessions for each stressor! They have one on one faculty support for skill development for any student who asks. They have support faculty for students who have life challenges (e.g., hurricane, death of lived one, house burned... Read More down, etc.). For an online program they go above and beyond for offering a personal touch. You can email the program director any time and she will call you, help you, anything you need. I had tons of support. Overall the faculty were amazing. Like any university I have attended, there are some mediocre faculty, but they are few and far between. If I had a lower performing faculty, I would notify the director and she supported both the faculty and me. I truly felt valued. Some posts I have read indicate people felt like a number. I never experienced this. Of course I asked for help when needed and always received it. To be successful at Walden you need to read your assignments, sign up for help if needed, read and implement the feedback your instructors provide, and you need to remember they are training you to be a professional counselor. They will push you to grow. You will get feedback. I would check the accreditation requirements occasionally and the standards were clearly being met. One of my favorite experiences was a group experience that was absolutely free! I was well trained, cared for, and supported at Walden. I will go back for my doctorate!

Walden is a for profit school and all about the money! Every other quarter fees/tuition are raised while service remains the same. You get a mix bag of instructors. Some with a lack of empathy and disregard to student needs in learning. Then there are some who are invested in their student learning. It depends on who you get. God forbid you get an instructor with a lack of empathy, who is the only person, who teaches a specific course required in your program of study. Addressing an issue with the... Read More Dean or an administrator is like talking to a wall, especially if it involves a faculty member. On a positive aspect, I did enjoy attending the counseling residency. It was fun, exciting, and motivating. Also, the skills, and tools taught were conducive to my learning. Walden isn't all bad. However,if you plan to attend, have a strong support system, expect the unexpected, be aware of the curveballs lurking around the corner whether from faculty, financial aid, advising etc. And more so don't be surprised to be counted as a dollar sign rather than a student.

This University should have their accreditation revoked for not meeting disability accommodations for those in need as well as allowing racial discrimination and bullying from instructors. I attended it for two years because of two post shoulder surgeries and needed time to recovery, which took over six months. After the surgery I needed to attend physical therapy and could not type and needed to locate a good source of income to provide me with software to accommodate my needs. One year post graduation... Read More I was attending my 1st residency insulted by an instructor as well as her informing me that she would fail me if I did not meet her needs. Mind you, she did not even state Walden's academic requirements even with my disability accommodation. I was later informed that I would be withdrawn even with disability accommodations because I took a term off and reported the insulting instructor. WALDEN IS HORRIBLE.

HORRIBLE. I was engaged in class until the last end of it and they could confirm over the phone the last day of participation was the end of January 2019, classes ended the beginning of February. Due to the participation "not being an assignment" it does not count and I was considered inactive with NO communication of this. I was told graded parts of the course are counted as participation (discussion is the last thing I posted on and did no count). I got rude emails back form my advisor, hung up... Read More and transferred from Financial Aid Department and told I owe them $1200 for the semester. It took them over a week to not get back to me about the concern. I received no emails or communication about being inactive, warning of becoming inactive or that I now owe them money. The course itself is set up messy and disorganized. The assignments are not geared to help students critical thinking and application.

I completed my Master's degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling at Walden University, and I definitely recommend this university to anyone who looks for the best online University!! I got my BA degree in Psychology from George Mason University in Virginia which was helpful but not enough. Attending Walden University made me very confident about my education & my career. I enjoyed every seconds of my life spending at this university. Love the great and helpful instructors and academic advisors.... Read More The online tools such as discussion board, library, chatroom, assignment submission...etc...etc that we used were very organized and efficient. I never had a problem submitting my assignment and whenever I had difficulty, I would call the help desk, and they were available to help. The one week residencies were great learning experience plus lots of fan. I enjoyed every seconds of my practicum and internship program and the way that the university & the instructors helped us achieve our goals and complete the program. It has been almost two years since I graduated from Walden University but I still miss it and I am thinking about attending a PhD program at this University. LOVE WALDEN!!

I went to a strong undergrad (U of M) and I wanted to get the same challenge. I started at a local college for my MS in Counseling but it was a joke and the hours did not line up with my job. Plus it was just a bunch of old tenure staff with a random paper and final. I did not know walden would be this challenging. Just like any degree, you get what you give. I read everything and my professors get back to me fairly quickly. You learn alot at the residencies too. It is expensive but worth it. If... Read More you are looking for an easy program with minimal work then this isn't for you. The graduation rate is low but I look at it as the strong surviving. We have staff that sit on state boards an the ACA so I respect it. Counseling doesnt pay much but it is respected. I am glad I chose Walden If you are looking to be spoon fed then getting a masters ma not be for you.

I have been frustrated with Walden for many things but the one thing I praise them for is the caliber of teaching staff and the preparation for licensure. They work hard to make sure when it comes to licensure, there is a smoother process. The course work is crazy and it is extremely challenging to work full-time while attending Walden. Those who work part-time will fare better. The teaching staff and advisers are empathetic and wonderful. If you are looking for easy, this is not the place. If you... Read More are looking to be prepared for licensure-jump on in!

Teachers are required to answer emails within 2 business days, per the rules, but almost never do. Many never answer at all. They are also required to engage in the classroom, and many do not. Some teachers have worse grammar and punctuation skills than the students, like the one teacher who docked me points because she did not know that "abound" is a word. For those in programs requiring internships, they do not aid in finding a location. this is a huge downside to an online school. There are students... Read More who simply should not be in any grad program who are accepted to this school, regardless, who often blatantly plagiarize my posting. The school is a money-maker and nothing else. BEWARE.

I applied to Walden for the online master's in counseling program. It was a problem from the beginning and I was treated like a child by their enrollment counselors. I'm 62 years old and already have two master's degrees but still I was treated like an 18 year old entering college for the first time. In addition, Walden requires the APA format for the online classroom discussions and this was the final straw for me. Discussions are not research papers and so much more can be gained with less formal... Read More dialogued with colleagues. Yes, I was going for a 3rd masters. I love education.

You will NEED to be proactive if you want to learn something. It is all self-taught. There are new reading assignments every week and discussion posts/responses. On some weeks, there may be an application paper, journal assignment or a quiz due on top of the discussion. The teachers do not teach anything. There is no lecture, no further explanations on the theories or techniques, you will have to read it in the textbook and just know it. Half of the reading assignments do not even apply or have anything... Read More to do with that week's discussion topic. Most of the discussion posts from my peers did not fully address the post and the grammar was less than par. It is extremely easy to bullshit your way through the course. By my third quarter, I barely read any assigned readings and just pulled stuff out of my butt and still managed to receive an A in the course. If you want to learn how to be an effective counselor and learn how to properly apply the skills and techniques, it is better you look elsewhere.

If you are pursuing a counseling degree- please go elsewhere! I transferred into Walden when I moved across the country. They refused to take the majority of my credits and gave no explanation as to why... one course it was simply because one word was not included in the course name (It was only called Family Systems, not COUPLES and Family Therapy). You have to do two week long residencies that require travel and maybe one location that is convenient for people who live on the West Coast. Then,... Read More they book it into one of the most expensive hotels- that they contract with- and costing an outrageous amount of money. I asked to book my second residency early due to being pregnant and knowing that I would be flight restricted during the "appropriate timeline" and was denied. Now, I have to take it later in the program. Most recently, I'm having the most difficult of times with them regarding my internship. I plan to do my internship at my current workplace, they will not let me count any of my regular duties which will require me to work an additional 20 hours each week. Because I'm completing my residency "late" they won't let me start my internship even though they wouldn't make an exception on the front end for me. They say that they don't want to "damage the relationship with the field site." However, they don't have a relationship with the field site and since it is my workplace, if I would damage the relationship, I would lose my job. They are unwilling to help their students find work sites- as a friend of mine has not been able to secure one for the past 9 months, which forces her to just keep taking classes over and over. Now, I'm too far into my program to transfer to another school without having to retake a bunch of classes. This is beyond a FOR PROFIT school and is not interested in helping their students succeed.

I am writing this trying to be as honest as possible. The first 2-3 quarters I felt like the school was too easy. I felt like I was not learning enough to make me a good counselor. I had previously gotten my Associates and Bachelor’s degrees at brick and mortar schools. So I felt that the work load was pretty light for a master’s level education. That is when quarter 4 hit. I found that suddenly I was working my tail off to get by. The school has continued to be challenging. As far as the teachers... Read More they are a mixed bag. I have had some that where super helpful and others that where just ok, but I would say the same about my brick and mortar schools. The biggest negative I have had was finding a sight to do my practicum and internship. That did take a while because there are not a lot of options (I live in a very rural state). I really had to be motivated to find a sight. I was turned down a few times but eventually found an awesome sight. At this sight they have interns from multiple schools (mostly brick and mortar) at first I felt like I was a little behind the others but it was mostly in my head. After talking about our schools I feel like there are areas where my education was better and areas where it was not as strong but in the end it’s all about the same. Walden is CACREP accredited which does help find a sight. The CACREP web site lists Walden in its top 5 CACREP online schools. Does Walden prepare you for real life counseling? Id say about the same as any other university. I feel that the school does well with the theory and ethics but that the hands on stuff come largely from practicum and the internship. That is one disadvantage to online. In brick and mortar schools they get to practice on each other a great deal. At Walden we had to find people that would let us practice on them and tape it for our teachers. Fortunately I have good friends in the community. As far as testing for my license and such I feel that Walden was sufficient in preparing me for that. I recently took the NCE and while I have not heard back yet I feel pretty confident. Yes I did buy a study guide to help. Part of me feels that online schooling is more demanding than brick and mortar education in that you have to be very self-motivated and cannot be a procrastinator. There is not a lot of face to face time so it helps if you are an auditory learner. I was able to hold down a full time job until the very end (internship) when the lode just because too heavy and I dropped down to part time work due to the 25-30 hours a week I needed in internship.

Absolutely appalling customer service. I could not get the Academic Advising Team to answer any calls, voicemails or emails for several months - I literally had to put an email Subject Line as "Please I am begging someone to respond" to get an answer. To top it off, they were extremely unhelpful and honestly quite rude when they did finally respond. If you want a school that provided actual student support and gives the slightest hoot about their students, stay away from Walden. I'm currently deciding... Read More whether or not to cut my major financial losses and withdrawal.

The first year at Walden was fine, I really enjoyed my courses and the professors were knowledgeable and respectful. I mainly signed up for Walden because a friend referred me and I needed to work full time and was planning on moving. An online platform seemed to be the best solution at that time. I was pumped up after the first Residency to finish my degree and start the process for licensure. Upon the second year (late 2015 into now), I noticed even more so in my courses that there was a how amount... Read More of mediocrity in the discussion boards throughout the whole quarter. I understand that discussion boards are a little more informal, but in every course professors said that APA style is mandatory for discussions along with thoughtful responses to peers. I am in no way perfect at APA style and writing in general, but what I saw from a majority of my classmates was laughable. Most did not appear to know how to formulate proper sentences with grammar and spelling errors throughout the whole post (not to mention far from APA style). This made me often wonder how these students got to the point that they are at, especially as I pride myself for spending a lot of time studying, researching, and going above and beyond requirements the professors asked for. I now believe that professors are instructed to pass all students (at least with a C) provided they write ANYTHING and it's fairly on time. On top of this, I began searching for field sites a year ago (last summer). Either agencies and hospitals did not want anything to do with Walden or they were not taking in any interns at all (it was this way in New Hampshire and I moved to South Carolina- same thing). I was considered for a practicum spot in a city in North Carolina but I did not have the means or ability to just move. This whole process was quite frustrating, and the field site list Walden provided was very outdated (agencies on that list were shut down) and I spent quite a bit of time making my own list and calls. I have gotten no support in this process. I called the Director of the Mental Health Counseling program at a local university and she told me that her school has affiliations with a few hospitals and agencies (and the practicums are done on campus until internships which are done at the field site). She said it is very competitive and even her students sometimes have issues landing a field site. Walden has no affiliations and is not a brick university, making it that much more difficult. I'm all for hard work as long as I know it will pay off. I spoke to multiple "advisers" at the start of my career at Walden and they did not indicate any of this. If anything, they made it seem like finding a site is easy provided you start looking a year early. They gave me stories of how some students have four sites lined up just in case. They did not once mention that finding a site is not a guarantee, and that we are all alone in this process (also the fact that there are no pre-established affiliation agreements with any hospitals or agencies). I said goodbye to Walden a few days ago and am not looking back.