Rosie87

That's so helpful, Pennk, thank you. In the end I decided against MPH@GW. And six minutes after I sent them my notice, I got an acceptance from another program I feel much better about. I'm not sure what that demonstrates -- perhaps just that today is my lucky day!

Interesting perspectives from both of you, thank you. There is an argument to be made for online programs, definitely, and especially for people who can't just relocate willy-nilly for school. GW is definitely expensive. I don't think this is a bad program, or at least I have absolutely no evidence to support that concern. But the profit element leaves me with an icky feeling, as does the marketing by people who work for the tech company but do nothing to disabuse applicants of the assumption they work for GW. I feel like higher education should be above deceptive marketing tricks. Is that just me being stuck in the last century? Perhaps I am a little naive. But in a more practical vein, in addition to providing an actual education I am hoping grad school will be an opportunity to build a professional community. That seems like something that might be hard to do in a huge online program. I wonder if any online grads can weigh in on that.

Hi public health people, I'm a career changer and have just been accepted to the MPH@GW online program at the Milken Institute School of Public Health at George Washington. I did my application in a big rush coached along by a very supportive and enthusiastic "admissions counselor" and didn't take a lot of time to investigate the program beyond its own marketing materials beforehand. Once I sat back to wait for a decision, I started sniffing around, and I'm feeling unhappy at what felt like a sneaky marketing effort to mask the fact that the "admissions counselor" works not for GW but for GW's for-profit tech partner 2U, which makes its money by taking a cut of tuition for the online programs it develops with otherwise legit non-profit grad schools. (Which may also explain why it offers virtually no merit-based funding) That red flag has me wondering whether the program is really what it claims to be, namely an online equivalent to GW's in-person MPH programs. I am doing more digging, but haven't turned up any conclusive evidence either way. The program is accredited and faculty-reviewed every month, according to a report on online programs by GWU's student senate. But students at several schools including GW have raised concerns that some 2U-partnered programs (not MPH though) are not on par with in-person offerings. Does anyone have any experience or thoughts to share? Thanks.