amc91

Was accepted to the full time distance program early last week, will be turning down my spot. Hopefully someone gets off the wait list soon

I actually read this months ago but seeing it again is SO helpful. Thanks for doing the legwork for me, I should have referred back to this! Also, has anyone made a Facebook group yet? I can set it up with someone if not!

That's so encouraging! Thanks for sharing. Catherine Martin reminded me that I needed to respond soon, and when I told her I needed some questions answered first she apologized and said she's remind Dr. Neil-Strudjas to get back to me today. Does anybody have information about working while in the program or general course load info? I anticipate it being challenging but I want to know if working part time or full time is feasible. Or if it's so crazy intense there is no way to work at all!

Honestly I know he's not the full time student contact, but Dr. Dressler has been super quick to respond. You might want to try him if you haven't yet!

I emailed Catherine Martin, who forward my email to Jean Neils-Strunjas. I'm sure they are absolutely slammed with emails, so maybe set it as a high priority, or make the subject "time sensitive question".

One more thing, I have been emailing Dr. Dressler, who is actually the contact for the part time, not the full time students. When I tried reaching out to the full time contact, my email was forwarded to someone else and I never heard back. So if you have questions your not getting answered, I recommend reaching out to Dr. Dressler, he has responded to every email immediately (even on weekends).

So I head back from five students in the part time program, and talked to two of them on the phone (still waiting to chat with someone in the full time) but OH MY WORD, they absolutely raved about how incredible the program is! I'll share all that I learned. Basically, the classes are live in the evenings, but I guess most professors record the lectures so if you can't make it to class, you can watch it later (or refer back to the lecture). I was told the professors really go above and beyond to get to know each student and they really want to support you and help you succeed. I was told that the depth of knowledge they are getting from the classes is amazing, and they feel incredibly prepared. One girl said she truly could not have wished for a more amazing program. At least for the part time cohort, the students said they are really close (even though they only have digital interactions). Two people said that there are some group projects, and while they sound bad, they are actually amazing and great learning opportunities. One girl lives in Colorado (like me), and she chose WKU over UNCO (she's doing the three year program) because she did not hear great things about UNCO's program. I spoke to a UNCO student who said the program was fine, but some professors do not record any lectures so there are classes that are basically "self taught", and she said many students in her cohort really dislike the program and feel like the professors are not responsive enough (unreplied emails, things like that). The person I spoke to said she did not have any real complaints, but she know others do. Again, I only talked to one person so this may not be a fair assessment, but I figured I would pass along what I heard. I asked about the preparation for medical versus school settings (I know UNCO seems to be more directed at kids), a couple felt like it was maybe more directed at working in schools, but they also followed it up by saying they know multiple WKU grads who work in medical settings. Another two people said that the program is 100% equal in terms of adult/children. Also, we get to choose our electives, so we will have the opportunity to focus more on our area of interest. Another fun fact, one girl is going to Europe with some of the professors as a "study abroad" opportunity and receiving elective credit! Also, since the professors teach the same courses during the day to the on campus cohort, they will bring up any questions the day time students had (another cool learning benefit). And doing the classes live mean that you get to hear everyone's comments/questions, whereas with asynchronous classes, questions are usually answered in private emails. I obviously sound bias, but I cannot express how incredibly enthusiastic and positive these students were about WKU! I hope this helps!

I received a list of emails from Dr. Dressler for current students in the program, I am going to email them all today. If anyone is interested, I am happy to share any and all information I receive from the students!

I may attend, I am waiting to hear from MT's distance program (also a 2 year). I just want to talk to a student in the program first to get a better "feel". What about you??

Just received an acceptance email to the full time online program!

I applied to the full time distance program and I'm still waiting to hear! I also just checked my admission portal and it still reads "graduate pending admission"

I don't think anyone has the answer for the "best" program, online or traditional (trust me, I've been asking this question for a year). I can tell you that University of Northern Colorado has (what seems to be) a good three year (part time) program. It is very competitive but reasonably priced with seemingly good faculty. I have a friend doing Idaho's online program who also really likes it. That one is slightly more expensive, but not bad. Wyoming has one, but it is synchronous, so you have to actually login to the classes which does interfere with flexibility. Western Kentucky also has a three year option I believe, and I have also heard good things about that program. University of South Carolina has a great reputation, but their program is MUCH more expensive (like $50k more than others). They are all really competitive (of course), but all accredited! I know Nova and Eastern New Mexico also have programs, and there are many more that I didn't mention. Hope this helps!

I'll be doing a distance program, so I know it is different but still busy. We're getting a puppy in June, I know many would not consider this a "wise" choice, but I anticipate being very busy and stressed the next two years with little time for leisure, so I decided that by having a dog it will force me to take a mental and physical break at least twice a day for walks as well as provide a positive interaction every day. Again, I know with a distance program I have more flexibility, but I also feel like it will be well worth it!

For those of you who haven't heard, I'm so sorry! That is super frustrating. Like a previous poster mentioned, I would definitely suggest reaching out to Nicole, (if you haven't already). She has been quite responsive. I'm happy to provide her contact info in a private message if anyone needs it.

So this may be a really silly question, but how does funding work? Does a FAFSA need to be filled out in order to receive offers of funding? Or do programs simply offer funding without a FAFSA? I assumed (maybe naively) that if a school wanted to offer it, they would, but then I saw for one program that a FAFSA had to be filled out by a priority deadline in order to be considered for any financial assistance. An offer of admission is wonderful enough, so I never thought getting any funding offers would be possible. But now I just have to ask!