California Southern University Reviews of Master's in Psychology

I wish I could write a great review for this school, but it has truly been a nightmare. Especially this last year. Some of the mentors are great, but the bad one's are just ridiculously petty and get frustrated when asked for timely grading. I even had one back-shelf my work and purposely take longer when I asked politely for my final grade. Most mentors are here for an easy second paycheck and do not care at all. Accounting is next impossible to get through to and you cannot get your degree awarded... Read More until you have resolved all financial obligations. This is a major problem. The school also made deadline policies stricter which is potentially a direct contradiction to the original flexibility that drew many learners to the institution to begin with. Practicum courses are completely disorganized, incosistently governed across all three courses, and mentors for these course have no clue regarding BBS documentation. The school changed accreditation during my degree program and moved out of state. Supervising staff is condescending and passive aggressive. The list goes on and on. I am still waiting for resolve with this school and do not expect it to come anytime soon. Truly dissatisfied. Do not go here. Trust me!

Horrible experience during the Practicum section of the psychology program. The clinical director came up with due dates at the last minute, putting at risk our registration for the next class. An extension was required 2/3 times because of several last minute changes that were never written or verbalized during the course. The IT department is intermittent with solving issues. The staff is non-responsive to student issues. No luck getting any concerns resolved! Don’t waste your time with this school.... Read More I sure regret it.

I chose California Southern University because tuition is affordable, and I get to work at my own pace. You will be just fine if you can self-motivate and are responsible for keeping track of time and pacing yourself. I don't recommend this school if you have terrible time management. Don't think you can pass without doing the work either. I feel the courses are vigorous and you will learn a lot. I love that I do not have to work with other learners in completing assignments. I have had to do that... Read More for my undergraduate courses in a different online program, which was terrible. Not everyone has the same work ethic as you do. I have only had two academic advisors throughout my time with this institution, and they were fantastic. I recommend this school.

I can't recommend this school. Please don't choose to go here just because the tuition is cheaper than elsewhere. You truly get exactly what you pay for. My experience is that this school's #1 priority is taking your money. Period. End of story. Some of their policies are punitive and greedy. Once they have you locked in to the program, they don't really care much about accommodating any problems or issues that may arise for you. They also switched my academic advisor part way through the program.... Read More What I was told by the first advisor regarding how many breaks I could take in between courses, was not upheld by the next advisor. I was also given other false information by my academic advisor that ended up costing me more money in the long run. Instead of apologizing for giving me inconsistent, conflicting information, they treated me like I was the one who was the problem. In psychological terms, this is what is known as "gaslighting." Be prepared to be bullied. I find this school's policies and practices to be somewhat shady and not honorable. I was also treated terrible as a student during the Covid-19 crisis. When the stay at home order hit California, I lost everything and had no income for several months. Initially. trying to get a leave of absence from this school was like pulling teeth. Eventually I got one, but they treated me just awful in the process. They have no compassion for students. My final message to any prospective student is this: Buyer beware. They want your money more than they want to make sure you have a good education or great experience, and there is a gaslighting culture here.

I love Calsouthern! Their online platform is perfect for me because it allows me to work and learn at my own pace. It is also a lot more affordable on my budget than competitive programs I looked into before enrolling. I am half way completed with my program and so far everyone I have been in contact with (Mentors, Advisors and the Librarian) have been extremely helpful and friendly. If you are looking for a program that allows you to get a degree on your own time and offer support, I recommend this... Read More school.

I have only taken a few courses so far. My academic advisor isnt very responsive and you get the sense that she feels put upon in each interaction. In fact, it should have been a red flag to me when she called me twice within about an hour when I enrolled to welcome me with the identical spiel; she had no idea she already just talked to me and was fake knowledgeable about me personally. I didnt say anything. I just listened both times and laughingly mentioned to my friend that I could tell the experience... Read More was going to be less than personal. Hopefully I wont need to count on her for anything too important, a little worrisome. My teachers (they use the term faculty mentor) have been good and available, but really you need to be self-motivated and able to figure things out for yourself. My second teacher seemed to be new to the school and was having difficulty understanding their systems. It made it a little tricky because I got the feeling from her that people might have been complaining about her learning curve and so she seemed a little on edge. It all worked out though. The classes are good. If you have no experience in psychology, the material is challenging - not neurosurgery, med school challenging but you cant just spend a few hours each weekend and get through the material. It is time consuming with lots of reading, 4-6 papers per class, a weekly forum blog to post and a two-hour final exam covering all the material from the texts. As an aside, buy your texts online somewhere. I tried their bookstore on their website and it was a train wreck, with nice people who were completely incompetent (at least in the one instance when I tried to buy from them). Also, do not rely on their list of books in the section where you click on links to classes and books needed; go to the course syllabus and get books listed there. I have at least one instance where there was a mismatch and the syllabus is what is operable. By the way, another instance when I reached out to my advisor who was her usual completely unhelpful self. I am reasonably happy with my experience so far for the price. I am very happy with classes and teachers and if my advisors responsiveness and interactional style were better, I would rate it as an excellent experience. So, I am not worried that I am not learning what I need, but just slightly concerned that if (really when) I hit a glitch, I have an advisor that wont be all that helpful.

If you are a self starter who learns well on their own and can commit to a fast paced program, then this is the school for you. Classes run about 8 weeks long (1/2 the time of the traditional 16 week semester format) and unless you have minimal other responsibilities I wouldn't recommend taking more than 1 class at a time. You're assigned 2 or 3 chapters per week to read. Forum discussions are weekly and mandatory as they account for a % of your final grade. You will have 4 or more papers assigned... Read More in the course syllabus. And yes, there is a comprehensive final exam. The assignments are arranged to encourage you to formulate your own conclusions and support your argument by applying the theories you have studied. An advisor is assigned to each student to help guide them through the master's program. And a mentor is assigned to each course to provide support and feedback. Mentors, like professors, have office hours and grade your work; however, they do not "teach" the class. They are there as a resource if guidance is needed, but you will ultimately be in charge of your own learning. This means you have to read the book, research via the virtual library of articles and journals if you don't understand something, confer with your classmates, use the video library to supplement the coursework, and be an active participant in your learning experience. This structure is well organized and easy to follow. They provide a suggested schedule, so as long as you're on pace or faster you won't be overwhelmed by the end of the course. They provide Microsoft Office 365 which includes word and outlook. They are regionally accredited, so I felt comfortable applying to earn my degree from them. You won't regret being a CalSouthern student. Their integrity and dedication to the quality of their students' education convinced me that they are the best online university to attend.