Ticked off at Ohio University

canadaincali · Sep 26, 2012

My experience with Ohio University Online Program - Because I didn't mind waiting several months, I was comfortable with waiting for OU to get my transcripts and education credential evaluation (Canadian College). I was notified that I was enrolled, but never contacted by an advisor or instructed about course set-up. The website/email account I was given did not list an advisor or give any instructions either. I was already anxious about time differences and the possibility of losing or delaying information in the mail because I am currently living overseas. I had expressed this to admissions personel when I applied. When I contacted OU, the lady I spoke with claimed she was my advisor. She said that the expectation was that I would enroll in courses independantly. I did not know what courses to begin with. Had all my courses transferred? Did I need to repeat any classes? Where do I begin? I asked her if any of this information had been sent out? She said yes. When I told her I hadn't received it, her response was that she would have figured that out in a few weeks and would have contacted me. Good to know!!! Needless to say, I have lost confidence in the process and am currently not spending large amounts of money on something I can't guarantee. It is sad because I do have the time to study as I am unemployed.

chuckster, ADN, BSN, RN, EMT-B · Sep 26, 2012

The admission and evaluation process at OU is, shall we say diplomatically, sub-par. It takes far too long and there is not enough information passed back to the applicant. In my case, it was a full 6 months before I got my final DARS, by which time I was already into my second class at OU. In the intervening time, I had numerous contacts with OU personnel, some of which were unsatisfying but some of which were helpful. If you look back through the initial OU thread, you'll see that I was among the vocal critics of the OU program in this regard. Many, if not most of us in the program have had similar experiences with the OU admission and evaluation process.

That aside, the end result at OU is almost always very fair and equitable. In my case, OU had to evaluate transcripts from 11 colleges but at the end of the process, I had gotten either the transfer credit or the exemption for everything that I had expected. This was not the case at another well-known college in the Lone Star state (and which was actually my first choice) who were very quick with their evaluation but required that take a take at least six additional non-nursing courses. This particular school would not give me credit for my intro Psych course because it was called Psych 001 - even after I sent them the catalog description and a letter from the vice chair of the department confirming that it was indeed the intro Psych course at the school. OU on the other hand, actually looked at the catalog and gave me credit - I did not have to send supplemental information. This process took a long time, but as I stated earlier, the end result was very fair. If you look through the postings, you'll see similar stories confirming this from a large number of students.

You will be contacted by an "enrollment advisor" once your application is in place (sounds like this may have already happened). This person can check to see if OU has received your transcripts, though you should also get e-mails telling you what's been received. Once all of your transcripts are in, the acceptance decision happens fairly quickly and you also get assigned to an academic advisor. This person is your friend and will help you - if you let them. Mine was great, and was a key element in the process. In talking to her, we found an error that may not have otherwise come to light and corrected it (I had both graduate and undergrad credits at one of my prior schools - for some reason, that college sent only the undergrad transcript initially). Throughout the process, I had the distinct impression that my advisor was seeking to be as fair as possible and that I would get an equitable evaluation. I was right. As I've pointed out, this is not always the case at other schools.

So my advice is to contact the enrollment person, make sure your transcripts have been received, then wait for your acceptance and give the evaluation process time. You will almost certainly have to start classes before your final DARS is available. I was reluctant to do this but eventually relented, based on what I heard from other students, just as you're doing here. The program is generally pretty good but does have some serious flaws, as you can easily see from the postings on this web page. Overall though, I don't regret my decision and suspect that the overwhelming majority of folks in the program feel the same way.

woodsyny, MSN · Sep 26, 2012

Thanks for your 'words of wisdom' chuckster, but the only thing I got was that they received my application. Nothing about transcripts,nothing about anything. Then they tell me I have to 'reapply' had me fuming as to the non correspondence. Double the work for me and not a good thing when you are applying to a school for the first time!

JustADream · Sep 27, 2012

I've been having some problems as well and it is frustrating. Same exact thing where one of my transcripts apparently never arrived but my application was listed as complete. No one could tell me why there was a delay when I first started asking about why I hadn't heard anything. When I finally was hooked up with someone that figured it out, they said it was too late for the semester I had applied for. I was finally accepted to OU later on, but I never received anything from the school of nursing even though I was told that a package would arrive via mail or e-mail with more information. I had to call to get my ID#, never was assigned to an advisor, etc.

This past week I thought it was all good- I was finally enrolled and ready to go. Ordered my books, even. Now I have cold feet about my credits transferring after being told that I may need to take several classes I was not expecting. I was told on the phone by the nursing school that I won't get my DARS report until I have taken 2 classes, but someone with registration said I will get it whether I attend or not.. it just takes a lot of time. They couldn't say for sure when and I know from the other thread that DARS can take forever and a day, but there was a big question mark about a group of general ed classes. I wouldn't mind if I was truly missing the coursework and needed them, but I have a degree in that field already so it came as a bit of a surprise to say the least. Because these classes are not for the nursing program, I understand I would be obligated to take them somewhere locally (which defeats the whole purpose of doing the online program) or pay out-of-state tuition rates.

I mentioned this in the other thread, but OU doesn't let us drop the nursing class online during the registration window even though we can register for them online. It has been a week and I am still enrolled even though I called/e-mailed a bunch of people and keep hearing that it will be taken care of shortly. I just don't want to get stuck with a $1k bill for a class I am not even attending. I know other people had frustrations dealing with OU before and I was trying/am trying to be patient, but I am seriously considering going back to the drawing board with this. I had hoped to be done in a bit more than a year, but it has been months already with very little to show for all the trouble besides lots of e-mails and phone calls from my end.

Best of luck!

NicuGal, MSN, RN · Oct 15, 2012

The same thing happened to me! Said complete, but was unable to get any further than that! My other 6 friends were like, so did you sign upetc. It took 3 weeks to finally get an answer of " Due to clerical error we were unable to process your transcripts." WHAT! And they never bothered to send me anything!