Why NOT to Attend University of Phoenix Online

Have you ever dreamed of earning a degree in a respectable and desirable field but realized traditional face-to-face Universities aren't compatible with your hectic schedule? I know I sure have.

In recent months University of Phoenix Online has aired several commercials through cable television and advertisements on various Web sites to pull in more prospects. The commercials target the general audience of individuals with a job, family, and many other obligations that detour them from taking the leap to earning their degree at a traditional college. The advertisements sound promising and earning your degree might be feasible after all, so you decide to log-on to their official Web site to check it out a bit more. You can view the University's mission statement, testimonials, study programs, tuition costs, online campus tour, and much more. You're probably excited and think you finally have found a way to accelerate your career that fits your schedule. Everything looks great and you want to continue learning about the University, so you fill out the "Contact Me" forum or just go ahead and dial the toll-free number to speak with a knowledgeable Academic Advisor.

I remember the first time I spoke with an academic advisor. She was very sweet, polite, and offered lots of information about the University. I asked her a bunch of questions and she always answered with great detail. She was great and I felt as if my desire to earn my degree actually meant something to her. Boy was I wrong! After ten minutes of speaking with her she began talking about why I should enroll today. The University was running a "special" for the next two days only and would wave my application fee, enrollment fee, and other random fees that would help a lot financially. I explained to her I needed a bit more time to think about it because this was a big commitment for me. Everything sounded so wonderful, but did I really want to do this? I needed time to reflect and speak with my family regarding the decision. She seemed to understand and we ended our telephone conversation.

Over the course of the next three weeks I received 3-4 phone calls on a daily basis from this academic advisor. She would always ask if I had made a decision yet and offer other great reasons why I should enroll immediately! Oh and every time she said, "Great news! The University board has just issued another few days on that special we are running to wave fees... so you better get a move on enrolling!" How convenient the special ran for a total of three weeks before I gave into the pressure of finally enrolling.

After I decided to enroll I was instructed to have a high school transcript sent to ensure I actually graduated. I also needed to fill out tons of paperwork and fax it back as soon as possible. Since I had never attended college before, being as I was only 16 at the time, I didn't have to send a college transcript. Thank goodness, less paperwork! I was informed the application process would take a couple weeks but I would most likely be accepted. So a couple days went by and I finally got a phone call from another academic advisor, one I had never talked to before, telling me congratulations on being accepted into the University. She said that she was now my permanent academic advisor and would stick with me during my journey through college. Maybe two minutes after telling me I was accepted into the University it was all about the money. How did I plan on paying? Can I pay today, maybe right now? Being so young I had to hand over the phone to my Mother because she was my financial support. The academic advisor said student loans and government aid is very popular among their students and suggested we fill it out. My Mom explained to her there is no way I would qualify so we didn't even bother. We decided to be "cash based" and pay two weeks before each block begins. We actually paid a whopping $1,700 that day for me to start my first two classes the following week. After payment cleared I was good to go and she would call me the day before my classes started. Fantastic! Wrong.

I never got a phone call or an e-mail. I actually called my academic advisor the day I started classes and left her a voicemail. She never returned that call. So I thought she was probably just really busy with new students and would eventually get back to me. She never did. It took me three weeks before I was able to get a hold of her. She apologized and said she tried calling me, but I didn't believe a word of it. Oh well, my classes were going well and I enjoyed the online environment.

I received maybe a few phone calls in a year's time from that academic advisor. At one point I called the University and apparently I wasn't even assigned with an AA anymore. What? I didn't have an academic advisor anymore? Months went by and I still never had an AA contact me. I only have a financial advisor contact me for payment.

I ended up dealing with this for the longest time and I was totally sick of it. Why was no one contacting me other than when they needed payment? I was left out to dry like I didn't matter to them. I called and complained many times and finally found an academic advisor, not one on my team, to help me. I spoke with him for a number of months before I was totally fed up with everything. I told him I wanted to stop attending the University and go somewhere else. Oh, guess what? Most of my credits wouldn't transfer over! Go figure. Now I'm stuck there.

Presently, I have an academic advisor on my team but she's totally clueless. It took her four months of being in the position to contact me. The only reason she contacted me is because of my threat to her manager. Otherwise I doubt I would have ever heard from her. You would think since I am a cash based student they would give me some sort of special courtesy. Apparently not! The school hassles and tricks you into enrolling but once they have your money they don't care anymore.

The school isn't what it's chalked up to be. The classes are either too crowded or don't have enough students, no one is there to answer your questions, and you really don't learn anything.

I'm glad I'm almost done with this University. I do not recommend this school to anyone! Go somewhere else where you will be appreciated.