I am a new student to DeVry online (third week in), soon to join the on-campus education. I came to this board not knowing what to expect but am glad to see there is more positive feedback than otherwise. In my incredibly brief experience with their online classes I see I will get more out of it than I expected. I expected it to just require a log on, read the material, take a quiz, and that's it (I attended an online class like that, notice it was only one). But with DeVry the required, graded topic discussions, albeit not as in-depth as they would be in real life, are at least very helpful in the learning process. That along with peer reviewed writing and other work, it's a communal process.

Everyone keeps saying that you'll get out of school what you put in, and that's exactly what I plan to do here. It seems that nothing's perfect, but so long as they continue to provide resources to "put in" in the effort, I will.

I am currently a sophmore at DeVry in Arlington, VA. Anyway what all of you have to realize is that DeVry is one of those schools who have like 30 campus' around the U.S and unfortunely some of them are going suck badly(like the one I'm attending), whereas some are good and of course that can change depending on the degree, anyway heres my story, so take it for what it's worth. Back in high school I had picked what school I had wanted to go to (which was Full Sail, recongized as one of the top 5 schools in the country for media, and the arts) for computer animation and modeling for video games), however it was in Florida and at the time I lived in pennslyvania, so of course my parents wanted me to try and find a place closer. Well the closest place that had anything close to what I wanted to do was DeVry who has recently added a GSP( game and simulation programming) to their line up of degrees, so I decided to check it out and the admission advisors ( dam them) are amazing at convincing naive students, which at the time I was very naive to attend DeVry. I was told this GSP degree, while it teaches programming also teaches stuff about animation and modeling, basically the degree was explained to me as being a bit of a "jack of all trades" and I figured it couldn't hurt to learn some other stuff that could prove beneficial in the future. As for the cost of the degree it was a few thousand less than Full Sail, so i decided to go to devry instead, which later I found out to be a big mistake. At first i liked the classes, but then again they were very basic classes, which touched on "theory on games", something anyone who plays games can get an A in. Also they claimed to have excellent equipment by saying they had an Alienware(a company that makes very good desktops and laptops geared towards gaming, music, movies etc.) Lab, unfortunely as I later found only advanced GSP students are even allowed in there, plus they only have like 3 of them in there and I found out later when i bought my laptop because there was issue with devrys laptop(which i'll get to in a sec) that Full Sail rooms are all Alienware or Macs and those rooms can hold around 60 kids, so do the math. Also I have found out that devry is full of hidden fees which i don't have room to put here, but put short it made devry a good bit more expensive than my first pick school. Now onto the education that i have recieved thus far at devry. At first my classes were basic, which is expected as with most schools, but as time wore on some of the few good teachers left or were fired, so devry devry decided to fill their spots with teachers from other degrees which dealt nothing with or know nothing about games. To be fair this degree is new, but i don't want to be a guniea pig. Anyway the classes focused only programming and animation which i had been told later that they were going to add them "soon". Basically i had one or two really good teachers, but the others were hacks. I'm almost out of space, so i'll sum it up now. Devry is all about the money and, financial aid has screwed and forced many a friend into leaving devry and they're on my tail now. This devry doesn't employ talented people( with one or two exceptions) and due to their mistakes and some of mine, I am very worried about my future, so please throughoughly check out the devry you'll looking at, get the students opinion and not the schools. If I know now what i did now back in high school you couldn't get me to go there

I am just about ready to graduate from DeVry phoenix and I have had a wonderful experience there. I do feel that it is over priced but like others have posted it is just as bad as any other campus. I started DeVry with a Bio-medical engineering degree and got about halfway and decided I hate math. The teachers in the tech fields were very good and they helped me as much as possible. What I thought was great is they didn’t lie to me some of my professors asked if I was really happy with the degree that I had chosen because I wasn’t really cutting it grade wise. I had help from professor and they helped me choose a new avenue which was a bachelor degree in Business Science with a focus in accounting. This change and the support I got, changed me from a below average student to an above average student. My accounting professors helped me line up a job so that I could get experience and now I am working as professional accountant (making a professional salary with benefits) and I don’t even have my degree yet. The only thing that worries me about DeVry is that they have changed to 8 week courses; this is very hard and requires a lot of self study the teachers do help you but you better be a ready to learn and not be a lazy but. I have met people from ASU that are getting the same degree and they don’t have the knowledge base that I do some of them are halfway threw there degree and don’t understand debits and credits. Over all DeVry is good school but could use some work on class management.

Hello ladylaw2008, i'm also a student at Devry, but my main concern is that since devry is based off of a different semester time frame I may not be getting enough time to educate myself, versus a person in a more broad curriculum. As of right now, I'm trying to get grades that will allow me to be accepted into a law school. So my question to you is, would it be best for me to get my master's first then go to law school or just go coming out of devry with my bachelor's degree?

Here is DeVry's problem. First and foremost, they are a for-profit corporation, so making profits for their shareholders takes precedence above all other activities. What I've posted here is based on my experience at DeVry in Columbus, Ohio.

If you have a pulse and high school diploma, you can go to DeVry. Not only *can* you go, but if you contact one of their "admissions counselors", said counselor will hard-sell you into going thousands into debt for a questionable outcome. Remember, a DeVry education is between $30k and $50k, so the admissions reps have just as much at stake as a Realtor or high-end car salesman. It's much like a gnat being sucked into a jet engine.

A while back, I decided to get my paper. I'd been in the computer biz for many years, but a degree is always helpful. Looking forward to the accelerated program, I chose DeVry.

The problems started with the admissions rep. Keep in mind that I had already decided to go to DeVry and was ready to write a check. So, we met so that he could interview me to see if I was "right for DeVry's rigorous curriculum".

But that wasn't what it was at all. Instead, it was a hard sell of the school. In fact, the rep started matching, tactic for tactic, the exact same strategy I had used to sell cars in a previous life. As soon as I realized this, I told him respectfully that I did not appreciate being sold to, and since I've already decided, that it'd be great if he would just take my paperwork so we could get the ball rolling. But he persisted. I got a little firmer and told him that I recognized what he was doing and, if he wanted to keep me as a customer he needed to stop. So he persisted, and I got up and walked out. (In retrospect, I should have kept going...) He came after me and said that he thought the school would be excellent for me, and he'd be happy to take my paperwork.

So, the next step was the entrance procedure, whereby new students are led by the nose to the various departments (finance, financial aid, etc.) so that each department can read their spiel. Basically a waste of time in my case. However, in the finance department, I had to fill out some paperwork. This paperwork demanded my parents' information, including their social security numbers . I theorize that this is because they 'suck in' so many people who end up defaulting on their loans, so they need a means of tracking them down. In any case, I told the person that I had planned to pay in cash, and that the social security number of my parents were none of their business. They persisted and basically said I could not register without that information. So I simply wrote 'deceased' and watched the clerk go pale white. (No, I didn't tell my parents that I figuratively killed them to get into school! :) )

Next post I'll tell y'all what I found during my first trimester at DeVry.

DeVry is like most other for-profit institutions in that a) They want to maximize their profit by selling things that customers don't need, and b) they want to make it difficult to switch suppliers (go to another school).

So at the point I had signed up, I'd been in the computer business for a while. Therefore, I thought I'd breeze past the basic classes and move to something more my level.

At DeVry, the first class in the MIS program is how to use Microsoft Office. Since, at the time, I had used Office every day, I thought I'd take the test to get out of the class. Bzzzt, wrong answer. I failed the test. Why? It was full of completely useless questions, like "How many clipart images are in Microsoft Office?" Who knows that? Who needs to know that? Since my employer was paying, I figured what the heck. $2,000 that didn't need to be spent on a class I didn't need. At least I was keeping DeVry shareholders happy.

Next, I took some general education classes. I really enjoyed them. But here's the kicker - those classes are structured so that you can't transfer them to another school! Sure, you can transfer the hours. But, none of the other "normal" colleges around here had classes structured the same. So, if I went and took GenEd classes at Ohio State, I could transfer those credits to Capital University, or Otterbein University, or Kenyon College. (Those are all schools in and around Columbus.) In fact, most of the GenEd courses at these other schools were structured so that they were transferable - in fact, those schools encouraged students to take classes at other schools. But not DeVry - they want you to stay at DeVry and DeVry only, and they make it hard to go someplace else.

When I spoke with my DeVry cohorts, it was clear the average caliber of student attending DeVry. The kids all talked about the parties they went to and the girls they boinked. The adults were more responsible, and some were sharp, but most - even those close to graduation - displayed an astounding amount of mediocrity and cluelessness.

Don't get me wrong, I know some really sharp people who went to that school. One of the old VP's of the company I work for only has a BS from Devry. But DeVry grads who show a mark of excellence are few and far between.

DeVry is like a factory assembly line, or a narrow hallway, that they push students through. You go through their program with little choice, little room to maneuver. Contrast this with the school I switched to, which is a large forest in which you can go in any direction and there are many avenues to take to reach your goal.

Finally someone else, who feels the same about devry. I just realized this, but if a school has a commercial( or commercials airing at 3 a.m) chances are it's not a quality school.

I have attended Devry online and also traditional schools. So far, I can say that yes it is what you put into it. I find that this path fits my schedule. You hear all these stories "I would go to school, but I do not have time due to work, family, etc." My point is the opportunity is now available via online education and I would imagine if not a bashing of Devry, then it would be the UOP, Strayer, Capella, and so on. I will say this, I am a graduate from ITT and was fortunate to get a flexible job paying over 50k. Not 6 digits, but it pays the bills and more (not bad for an AAS, no certs, and very little experience). With that being said, education and life in general is what you make of it.

Guess who else made it to the top...

DeVry University Ranked #1
Posted - August 25, 2008

DeVry University ranked #1 by Foxnews.com for accredited online colleges & universities.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,407301,00.html

List below are some accredited online schools with solid track records, researched and compiled by FOXNews.com.



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1. DeVry University Online, Naperville, IL

2. University of Phoenix, Phoenix, AZ

3. American InterContinental University Online, Hoffman Estates, IL

4. Kaplan University, Fort Lauderdale, FL

5. Capella University, Minneapolis, MN

6. Westwood College Online, Denver, CO

7. Walden University, Minneapolis, MN

I am a recent graduate of the DeVry Advantage Academy in Chicago. For those who are unfamiliar with the program, it lets high school juniors and seniors complete both high school and DeVry classes at the same time. I graduated in June with both a high school degree, as well as with an Associates degree in Network Systems Administration.

To be completely honest, I had no idea what I was doing when I first attended DeVry. I liked computers, but I always pictured myself going to a "traditional" college. Once I was in the college classes, I really enjoyed the atmosphere as well as the teachers. They were so knowledgeable and always made great efforts in being involved, learning our names, etc.

However, no matter how much I liked being at DeVry, I just couldn't shake off the reputation that comes with being from DeVry. People don't think you are smart, which is completely false. They think that you don't do work, or just sit and the teachers prance around giving A's so that they don't get bad reviews, and it's not true.

I ended up following my "dream" of going into a "real" college, as many put it. I'm attending Loyola University, and I've been here since the summer. However, being here doesn't feel the same. The teachers are nice, but the DeVry teachers were nicer and more personable. Some students who are going for a computer science degree are not into it, or are just living off the trust fund daddy gave them (I know this is an overstatement, it applies to some but not all people attending Loyola)

I can already see that we're not learning what is most important, and that's working in the "real world", something that DeVry University offers many services and classes about. Now, some might come and say that I haven't been at the school long enough to be able to learn all of that, but just in the first year I spent at DeVry, I had already learned so many skills that will help me become successful in a career.

Now, I'm sitting at a computer contemplating whether it's worth going to a different, more "traditional" college, basically paying for the name on my degree, or I should go back to DeVry, and finish my degree for much less.

To some, there is an obvious answer, which is to go back to DeVry, but to others, it could be that I won't be getting the same "experience" or just the name of DeVry turns people off.

So, what will be my final verdict? I believe that I will go back to DeVry in the spring. I'm confident enough in the DeVry University system that with the degree I'm getting, I will find a good paying job, and also attain the experience that many companies are looking for in an applicant. I already have been offered an internship position at a major insurance company's headquarters.

I'm sure many people have already stated this but it's what you make with your education and your experience that gets you places, regardless of the name of the school.

Thank you if you read it all :)

1) You don't know what you are talking about!

DeVry teachers are required to have a minimum of a Masters degree to even teach. In addition they require ten years in the field.

If DeVry was such a bad school then why is that they are the ONLY school that advertises their graduate to employement ratios? A State schools isn't career advancement. So where did you become the expert? Do you have several degrees from different state schools and is that how your comparing the quality of your education to that received at DeVry?

Anyone that really wants to know what employers think about DeVry grads needs to take a look at which employers DeVry has built relationships with.

Once you see the list of huge fortune 500 companies on their site you can see anyone that is trying to discredit the school doesnt know what they are talking about.

Lastly reach out and call the companies listed on DeVry's site, ask the H.R. departments what they think of DeVry Grads.

Please don't take this as an insult but I'm glad DeVry didn't take you. They aren't an open enrollment school so you should get your facts right before you post here. If you read the catalog it states that they are required to interview you. Sounds like the problem here is you think your too good and you can just waive your money around and you can decide if your goals can be met there.

You think your a customer... when approaching a University that's the problem. You should be glad someone wants to take the time to see if the school is a good fit before just taking your money. So your contradicting your point... if they just took anyone with a pulse then why didn't they just take you to begin with.

dabent1. wow you must be a devry student if your that close minded(, or stupid). Yeah, devry interviews you, but truth be, devry wants money and they accept everyone regardless of how stupid they are. I mean it's so easy to get in, it's not even funny. They also give you an acceptance test( or with everyone i know anyway who's gone here) that is just legal bs. I know people who attend devry who were lacking in each catagory of the test, but aslong as they pay they're in. As for the saying " College is what you make of it", thats partially true, however the effort required to do that with devry is like trying to climb the empire state building.....with your bare hands.

I think it matters what Devry you go to. In the Chicago Area the campuses are in the middle of a lot of great universities and they're forced to keep up. All my proffesors have had Master's degrees and a couple PHD's.

I do know what you are saying though. My first English class was interesting because we would compare papers with classmates and when I saw some of what people wrote it was about 5th grade level.

All in all I'm currently at Devry but may transfer to DePaul because DePaul has a better name. Also, I kind of stutter when people ask me what school I go to...

Yeah, he was also "excepted" to Yale.

Having University of Phoenix up there really does not help Devry's case. Also, some of those Universities/Colleges are not even accredited.

Look, I'm at DeVry and I agree with part of what everyone has to say in here.

First of all do not even put DeVry and University of Phoenix in the same sentence because University of Phoenix is a complete joke.

1) The DeVrys in Chicago are surrounded by great Universities like Northwester, IIT, Loyola, DePaul, and others so they are FORCED to actually teach and have qualified professors.

2) Also, People have been saying that education is what you make of it. That is true, but at the same time when I'm sitting in a class where the next persons English paper is no more eloquent than a 5th graders and they have a "B" and I have an "A", there is something to be said.

3) I do believe that you can learn at DeVry but when there are postings and people questioning DeVry's legitimacy. Why would you want to pay $505/credit hour?

4) I plan on transferring out of DeVry because when asked about what school I graduated from, I want to say it with complete confidence.

5) I have not run into any threads questioning DePaul's, Northwestern's, or Loyola's legitimacy.

Yeah...

I would not at all be surprised if DeVry paid someone full time to sit be online talking about how great they are.

And yes I go to DeVry but I don't like their image.

I think what he means is that State schools or Universities that are non-profit will not be lenient because they want you to stay and pay them.

My experience at Devry was somewhat negative. Maybe because I have learned so much from the NAVY through hands on. When I signed up for Devry's network comm program, I assumed I would be taking all my courses on campus. Was I wrong... More than 50% of the core coursework was online. The amount of money versus the quality of education was not worth it. I transferred to another state college into a similar program. There, I got hands on which includes the actual routers and servers instead of Devry's virtual labs. I can't believe the amount of the tuition paid to Devry, Devry could not bring the real deal to the classroom. So I believe I learned a lesson at Devry that Devry does offer real world experience. Experience in the corporate world that knows what product to sell and how to sell it. What a rip!