Walden University Reviews of Master's in Nursing

I would NOT recommend this school. They are only out to profit from students all the while making false reassurances about the integrity of their facility and how supportive they are of students' needs. Once they have your money, you're on your own; advisors (there's more than one when you initially sign up) abruptly disappear. I almost had to sit out several times because the list of clinical preceptors provided by Walden was a joke. I struggled to find preceptors and Walden couldn't have cared... Read More less. Many of these facilities on Walden's "list" had never even heard of Walden or were no longer taking Walden students. One clinic manager even told me they were not accepting any students from Walden "because of the hassle of dealing with Walden." Hassle indeed. I cannot get a straight answer from financial aid - I get a different answer every time I email. They are also unprofessional and rude, writing emails in red font. Advisors may or may not call you when you make an appointment. Course material was ridiculously easy - not at all what one would expect at the master's level. I passed my nurse practitioner certification exam only because I bought review books and TAUGHT MYSELF. Walden instructors give "A"s to every student just to keep them coming back. Overall, I am disgusted and disappointed that I wasted my time and money here. As other reviewers wrote, I don't even want to hang my degree up in my office. AVOID THIS PLACE!

The academics I have received at Walden are good, however my experience with the Financial Aid office is less than par, if not absolutely horrible. Master's programs are expensive enough without having to deal with loan issues, caused by the University you are attending. Walden is at fault for an extreme delay in my loan disbursement and release, causing my family serious financial constraints and problems. Even though they are at fault they offer absolutely no resolution to my problems, of which... Read More they caused!!! There are many Universities that offer flexible online degree programs, with equally supportive financial aid teams. Everyone deserves a University who provides both. Beware of Walden!!!!

Walden started out good; however, thank goodness I am almost finished because they have been progressively been getting worse and worse. Academic advising has always been very bad and they know nothing about the field experience programs (clinicals). It is impossible to speak to an actual person regarding the field experience and they do not respond well to emails. It once took 5 weeks to get a response to an email which made the question obsolete as it was a question that a potential clinical place... Read More had and by the time I got the answer, it was past the deadline to turn in an application for the next clinical rotation. There is NO help in setting up clinical sites, you must do this all yourself. It sucks to be a middle person when trying to set up a phone contact, the instructor never responded to my preceptor (she tried multiple times) which makes Walden look bad, and I am embarrassed because I'm thinking they are wondering what type of school am I going to and what kind of education am I getting?! Other online schools have utilize alternate resources such as webinars and video lecture which would come in handy as options for someone who is having difficulty understanding a concept. I know some other schools also set up one or two times that a student must travel to the school in order to go over some of the physical assessment things (such as pelvic exams and prostate exams) which I think would have been helpful. I personally know people who are having a lot of difficulties with Walden and I do not recommend anyone to go here.

Terrible, Instructors do not keep their scheduled preceptor conferences, upsetting the physician preceptor, and frustrating the student. You will not receive adequate training from the school or direction to do so for clinical medicine. You must have a strong nursing background to survive clinical rotations, which you must find your own preceptor and rely on the university for affiliation agreements, which are very unprofessional and not prompt and getting completed, thus slowing down or halting... Read More your academic progress. No one at the university either knows their job or can provide any information on the specifics of requirements or expectations for any of the course work, Assignment rubrics and grading is prejudicial, and not according to content. If you cannot get in elsewhere then you are still taking a big financial risk on attending at this ghost university.

This school shows the reason to stick with a brick-and-mortar as they lack efficiency. It all started applying to one of their graduate nursing programs. The "enrollment advisor" they had calling me constantly along with everybody else knew NOTHING about the program....yet they claimed to be from that department? They couldn't even answer a simple question about the practicum which is of great importance. If you can't finish the practicum which they don't even set up for you then you don't graduate.... Read More This is particularly important for those in graduate nursing programs. So not to be able to tell students about it and to call yourself an "advisor" for the program shows they don't care what happens to you once your foot is in the door and they take your money. They bombard you with emails and calls and I even had to request to speak with the supervisor after interactions with a rude advisor who basically told me he was going to keep calling me regardless if i didn't want him to. Should've knew I couldn't trust this school when they couldn't tell me the success rate of some most students in their programs such as the Nursing Informatics or NP programs. Now I have to start over elsewhere. Poor student service combined with people who don't even know a thing shows the quality of this school. Save your money and get a degree from a more reputable school whose name you won't regret carrying.

Walden provided me with a respected MSN in Nursing and has given me a 35% discount on tuition for my PhD program. I find that those giving a bad rating to Walden U. are the same type of people who consistently blame their outcomes on someone else rather than considering if they are an appropriate candidate for an online education. It may cost more than a state classroom held course, but consider the time, travel expenses, and other factors and I will bet you that it comes near what you pay for the... Read More online course. However, it takes discipline and intelligence to complete an online program. You do not have the hand holding I find in classroom instruction and the amount of writing you must provide on each class assignment and discussion board is intense. It requires critical thinking and research that can substantiate your findings. You do not have a few classroom tests that can be crammed for in an overnight session. You have, week after week, discussion and papers that fully explore the subject matter of each class. So stop blaming others for your dissatisfaction until you fully evaluate your ability and readiness for online education. Walden is my school of choice and I feel fortunate to attend.

I thought FNP program suppose to give you knowledge and skills to treat patient as a health care provider. So far did not get any. Most of classes are bull, such as leadership, nursing research, role nurses as patients advocates over and over again. You write lengthly discussions, answers, papers. So far far after 1.5 year of studying I din not learn any medical knowledge. I guess it is accredited program and we will be able to find preceptors, which are not provided at all, graduate, pass FNP certification... Read More examination.But without any medical knowledge it will be very stressful and difficult to work.Hopefully you could learn and get skills at work , but for the fist couple of years it will be very difficult. The school basically teaches you to write essays in English, but nothing more. As a patient I would be very afraid to have fresh Walden graduate as my primary care provider. due to his or her incompetence and lack of medical skills. the whole education is absolutely useful and does not give you good medical knowledge base to practice medicine. The only reason why I am here is convenience of online classes and an opportunity to get FNP certification. Also it may be difficult to find a fist job.

I do not know why there are so many terrible reviews. WALDEN DOES NOT HOLD YOUR HAND SO IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR SOMEONE TO HOLD YOUR HAND THEN YOU ARE AT THE WRONG SCHOOL. Walden expects you to be an adult and to be able to explore their online school and attend their orientations and webinars to figure out how your classes will work. I have had nothing but wonderful things from the nursing side of Walden. I am pursuing my master's degree in nursing with a post grad certificate in leadership and management.... Read More My advisers have been wonderful! My teachers have been excellent as well! Some have been lenient and others have been very strict. I have learned so much about scholarly writing and promoting social change. Walden has helped me for the best. I can not speak about other degree programs but I can say that most of the reviews are very wrong about this institution. Yes, there may be a few bone heads in your class or a few not so nice professors but that is life. You will find that in any school regardless if it is online or not. Many of you may not have attended all the online webinars or online orientation so you may feel you didn't know anything because you didn't hold up your part of the deal. I am receiving a wonderful education and I would recommend Walden to anyone who wants to pursue an excellent education online. The financial services department does not explain things very well without you asking, but if you ask them any question that you need to know then they will definitely answer them. I can't say enough good things about Walden. I know there were a few comments about what courses to take, but in the nursing program you are automatically signed up for your courses and they automatically send you all of your books either through mail if they are hard/paper back books or they will email you if it is an E-Book. IF YOU WANT TO ATTEND WALDEN, DO NOT LET THE NEGATIVE COMMENTS TURN YOU AWAY. I AM TELLING YOU THAT YOU WILL NOT REGRET WALDEN!!! I can not wait to graduate from Walden!!!

I am having a very positive experience with this program. I have learned so much. Every class matches the other programs that I have researched in other Universities. Finding preceptors for the practicum has been stressful, because I am competing with the medical schools and other nursing programs in my area. I still have 4 quarters to go and I have been offered 5 job opportunities. This course is what you make it and do not start Walden unless you are ready to put the time and effort into being... Read More an educated FNP. (Its not an easy A)

Rigorous rubrics, tight time lines. What you put in, is what you get out of it. Professors for the most part are very articulate, challenging students to progress their thought process.

Format of the courses easy to understand; main discussion posting each week, four adequate (1/2 page+) responses, and roughly a paper due each week with a major paper at the end of each 8 week course. If you keep up with the course requirements you will do fine, granted a lot of late nights put in.

The heavier workloads... Read More are to be expected of Masters programs. Only one out of ten professors was not very helpful by way of extending any extra effort to progressing the students experience. Tech support very efficient and helpful. No financial support resourced to speak of that department.

Once again, what you put in, you get out.

I am writing to talk about my experience at Walden. I graduated one year ago with a MSN in Leadership and Management. This is NOT a diploma mill....by far. Walden prepared me for a DNP program (I just finished my first semester). I was excepted into Rush U, UNLV, and St. Catherines (which I chose). I interviewed with all three and presented my portfolio at each interview. All schools were very impressed.

The program at Walden was rigorous and demanding (as it should be at a graduate level). I often... Read More spent 40 hours a week on course work. On-line learning is not for everyone. You WILL be teaching yourself. The instructors will guide you but if you are looking for a 'spoon-fed' education, this is not for you.

Then again, if you are looking for that, you should not be going to grad school. It is hard work. I have nothing but great things to say about my 26 months at Walden. I am doing great in my doctorate program thanks to the experience writing, analyzing literature, and weekly discussion boards, as well as reading assignments and videos.