University of Wisconsin - Platteville

In 2016, I made the decision to transfer to UW-Platteville. At the time it made sense for me. I was previously attending UW- La Crosse. The difference in quality of education is polarizing. My degree from Platteville will be in Business Administration. During my time at UW-La Crosse I was taking classes to fulfill my gen ed requirements. I can honestly say that my professors at UW-La Crosse in my general education courses were much better than any professor I've had at UWP. The business department... Read More at UWP is an inefficient and poorly organized group of individuals. Some of them are true educators and care about fostering applicable knowledge in the minds of young people. Unfortunately, most of them don't give a s*** about what useful information they provide. I will tell you right now what 90% of your business classes at Platteville will look like. For most of the semester, you will sit through PowerPoint lectures on information that was relevant to the industry 5-10 years ago. Your tests will be so pointless and easy that you won't have to study at all while all your engineering friends are pulling out their hair trying to figure out their differential equations homework. You will participate in some sort of group project where no one actually cares about presenting quality opinions because the professor will probably just give everyone an A. UWP might be a great school for other areas of study. I can tell you bluntly that getting a Business degree from UW-Platteville is a poor financial investment in yourself. Like Will said in Good Will Hunting: "You dropped a hundred and fifty grand on a f**in' education you coulda got for a dollar fifty in late charges at the public library."

Having gone to UW-La Crosse for 3 years prior I have a good comparison to UW-Platteville. The major disappointment with UWP (specifically the ME program) is that over 75% of the professors I have had have no experience and they are foreign. First, I mentioned they are foreign because their accents are so strong that half the battle is understanding the explicit words that come out of their mouth. Second (most importantly) is that there is a HUGE difference between teaching and talking. The skills... Read More of teaching DO NOT EXIST in this new wave of young professors that make up the ME program. It really feels that UWP decided that saving money paying these new professors is more important than providing quality. In contrast, I now appreciate my UWL professors because they all had 10+ years experience. The bugs in there courses have been worked out and they found the best way to communicate the material to the students. If you don't believe me just check the rate my professor ratings. At UWL, I did not have a problem getting a semester with professors all over 4.0. At UWP, you will be lucky to have a professor over 2.5 and that is assuming they have been teaching long enough to have a rating. The head of the UWP ME department needs to take a long look at the current staff and actually care about their ability to convey the material they know in their heads. The current students are paying (a lot more than the cost of tuition) for the poor quality of this program.

This is a program that quite simply put is what you put into it. Many people scoff at a distance / hybrid education as it is perceived to be a diploma mill. So long as you put in the work, that is not the case with UW-Platteville's online and hybrid component. This is not something that is for the student who cannot structure their workload or motivate themselves as expectations are loose and some may find themselves desiring more of a hard-and-fast calendar of deadlines and hand-holding. However,... Read More for the adult graduate student, it is well worth the effort if you are a good fit. Pros must be addressed first. The program offers fantastic resources and a phenomenally broad depth of curriculum with the ability to specialize. One simply does not see that in most of the programs that are specific to education or vocational counseling or clinical-counseling. The professors are diverse and offer a fantastic networking ability and potential to develop many specific sub-field contacts. If one wants to get into school counseling, they can. If one wants to be a vocational counselor for a state-agency, they have that ability too. If one wants to become a LPC, they have the connections and means to do so. The program is also very, very accommodating to the working or parenting balance. I did both while attending. Deadlines are understanding that this is a program tailored for the adult with outside commitments. I did not encounter one single lecturer who was an outlier here. Additional pros are that it is flexible with time, minus some courses being specific nights. The distance option is quite fascinating and offers the ability to hold a live class that is interactive and give the same pros as a physical classroom. The cost is very, very reasonable and the financial aid office is quick to respond. One of the more enticing factors, for me, was that the program accepted a comparatively large amount of transfer credits. Finally, the degree carries with it the University of Wisconsin weight. That means one isn't going to be coming from a diploma mill, and employers are certainly not going to look at students as such. Now to the difficult part with regards to the cons. The program is coming out of a very new status where it has transitioned between accreditations including one where the hybrid model was not accredited. Thus, the bulk of my learning switched to online classes. I believe this to be a normal hitch. However, it is worth noting that all details have not been ironed out. The other down side is that the staff has had some turnover in my brief time from the program. This was not highly prevalent. However, it did pose a problem for those who sought to choose a specific professor for their Seminar Paper or Thesis. Finally, because of the adaptability and general orientation of the degree, it can pose a problem for individuals who want to specialize and have a language on their degree such as Clinical Psychology. This also factors in to the ability to specialize and get into a deep set of electives to grow as a professional. It also has given a hard time to some students who want particular practicums where the school, in its general and distance model, have no official partnerships with practicum sites (side note: they are very willing to accept new practicums that students wish to set up on their own). Overall, the value of this degree is well worth the cost in terms of time and money. I look it as an input-to-outcome ratio. In this case, it is an investment well worth the time. It has also helped me get into a 2nd graduate program that will complement my first masters (MSN with a psychiatric capstone). I know of plenty of other students who have gainful employment and successful promotions with this very degree. Just remember, that this is a terminal degree and, if seeking a 2nd masters or doctorate, many of the courses will not transfer to the doctoral level unless it revolves around counseling. Again, my experience was a great one. Ones success very much revolves around that sole factor of putting in the work to make it worth the while.