I took one project management class and its really poor. I can not recommend it. read more

wished I have read YELP reviews before enrolling to BLA/NDA/MAA Submissions and commercialization. Waist of time and money! read more

I have been pursuing the Certificate Program in Business Administration since February 2018 and I have to say that the degree of genuine insight and academic quality I have experienced thus far has been outstanding. JP Novin's class on Management will make you think about the modern workplace like never before, and the Introduction to Business class alone will make you feel confident in your grasp of the fundamentals of business. Especially if your employer reimburses for your education, this school is perfect for people like me looking to advance their skillet and expertise who have already completed their undergraduate degree. read more

Yea For extension! Here is place where UofC can admit students who don't quite make their admission policy, but will go on to be students who increase the school's diversity rating. Also, if you only have to take 1 class to graduate, you can do it here cheaply. Whooo hooo! read more

It is true that this is the better alternative to community college. I took 4 classes here over the course of about a year, and I do miss the level of participation and interest that the programs inspire in the students, the generally more well-qualified faculty, and overall quality of education. I met great people in the classes and the instructors reminded me of what it's like to feel really excited about education. It is, however, absolutely cost-prohibitive for me now. This is unfortunate, because it's a serious downgrade to be taking classes at the Peralta Community Colleges. The most inexpensive course I could find (that I needed/wanted to take) was $600 and the typical cost was around $800-$900. As worth it as it is in theory, I simply cannot afford it, and it's rather a tragedy. No financial aid options available. Realistically, this isn't going to change. I have accepted my fate, and that's fine. However, I think the program could benefit a lot from an interactive online registration system. As it is, it's pretty rudimentary, and all grades, enrollment status, and notifications are done through regular old paper mail, which is slow and ridiculous and unreliable. It's difficult to interface with the staff by email, as everyone is understandably very busy, and I feel like a bother for pressing an issue if the answer to my question is not immediately clear. It is probably expensive and time-consuming to put such a system into effect, but it would make it a lot easier to do pretty much everything. read more

So I already have a degree, but wanted to get some more education. The only alternative I had was to take classes through the Extension. Taking classes through Berkeley, is still a bit expensive, but certainly not the most expensive that you'll find. The class sizes are small and classes that you want to take are offered. Also, because of the Berkeley name, quality people are attracted. So when you get into your classes and get into groups, you will be pleasantly surprised. read more

Problem 1: I took online classes in order to get Certificate Program in Software Development and Programming. I have finished all required classes and then sent email to UC Berkeley so they can issue a Certificate to me. I sent this email on 5th of October 2017. On 25th of Ocotober I called to UC Berkeley in order to get any information about Certificate. As a result I got info that I didn't pay some kind of certification fee - 150$ and that's why they are not going to send me Certificate. I have found all documents which showed that I paid fee in the beginning of the process, almost two years ago. UC Berkeley agreed and said that they will send Certificate to me shortly. Problem 2: On 30th of October I was checking my online profile and have found that I don't have enough hours for Certificate. I have only 105 hours instead of 150 hours as required. They lost my 45 hours!!! I called UC Berkeley. The answer was - "You took class which was not applicable for Certificate". I made research and provided them information and screenshots that I took this class when it was applicable for Certificate. They appologize and said that they will expedite the process of sending my Certificate. Problem 3: Today, 28th of November I called them one more time. The reason - I don't get my Certificate! I guess it will take them two more years to fix all processing issues and send me this Certificate. Please do not use their online courses. Poor management, bad organization of all processes. P.S. Shame on you, UC Berkeley! My salary raise depends on this Certificate, and thanks to UC Berkeley I am loosing my money right now. I don't think that UC Berkeley will make reimbursement. read more

I wanted to get some training Visual Arts, without having to jump right back into fulltime college again, and I had no idea where to start looking. Lucky my mother had heard about UCB's Extension program and recommended it to me. It seems once again mother knows best. At the end of the day UCB is a great school, and that prestige lends credibility to the extension program too. I can't speak for the program as a whole but the Visual Arts certificate program is great. The classes are a mix of people, some younger, like me - I just graduated from undergrad and regretted not having gotten a degree in fine arts - some older and just looking to learn a new skill. Everyone is very nice and clearly there to learn. So far I have only good things to say about my instructors, and I especially love my fundamental drawing prof Pam Lanza! She teaches at SFAI too, and she's just an amazing teacher, tough and patient at the same time. Registration into the program and classes was easy, the facilities (in SF at least where I take my classes) are really nice. Especially if you're an art student because it's a really great area with a variety of art museums and exhibits nearby. This is a great program! read more

If I could write zero stars I would. I signed up for Berk X Teaching English as a Second Language program. I don't have a teaching background but they assure you that anyone with a BA in Anything and a check can do it! Nonsense! DECEPTIVE MARKETING! This outfit is no different from Corinthian or Trump U. Non-teachers in the TESOL program are left to flounder. The dropout rate is reportedly upwards of 20-30%. It is grotesquely overpriced. There are other programs at half the price and a third the time to get the TESOL cert. read more

Great class on Essentials of Management with JP Novin. Highly recommend this class for anyone looking to expand their management skills, knowledge and understanding of company culture. You will learn the tools necessary to engage with direct reports in various situations, and how to create culture that aligns with company mission and values. read more

I was one of the last students to get the Unix/Linux certification; the program ended in 2013. Most of the courses were informational, with cursory lab work. But several courses offered by an original member of the BSD Unix group (unfortunately he's no longer teaching there) were kick-ass. They were rigorous, fast-paced, and totally hands on with daily homework assignments. There were a few students from the undergrad UCB CompSci program in these classes who mixed with the work-world folks like me from companies like Google, Ask, Yahoo. It was a lot of fun. The consensus was, these were great courses taught by a great teacher. Too bad UCB extension decided to end it in favor of a IS management oriented program. There are excellent teachers at UCB Extension. You just have to find them. read more

Horrible. They take your money up front and provide no help whatsoever. Then when you have a connection problem during a test they don't care and they fail you. They want your money and don't care if you succeed. 1400 dollars wasted. Stay far away from this clown show. read more

I don't know who needs to hear this, but my experience with UCBX was pretty terrible. Overall, very dissatisfied with these courses. If you're actually looking to get something out of these classes (as opposed to just having them on your transcript) I highly recommend you DO NOT take these courses unless, like me, you have NO OTHER OPTION. The only things I did like about these courses are the rolling start (so you can enroll at any time) and you can work at any pace you want so long as you finish by the given end date. But, for the amount of money I spent alone (INSANELY OVERPRICED), not to mention the reputation of the UC Berkeley brand, I got sooo much less than what I was expecting. I took three online classes over summer of 2020; Nutrition, Statistics and Lifespan Psychology. All three courses are setup the same way in that they have several modules of pre-recorded lectures that are associated with certain chapters from the textbook and then some corresponding assignments. Statistics- this class was the worst of the 3. You are essentially teaching yourself statistics straight out of the textbook. The "lectures" for each module were 5-minute videos briefly going over the concepts without much depth at all. The videos were accompanied by some written text as well explaining the same topic. However, the videos, the written text and the textbook all had different language/symbols and all explained the concepts in different ways with different formulas. There was no cohesion at all whatsoever. Good luck trying to learn statistics when you have 3 different sources telling you different things and trying to decipher between all 3 what the "right" way to solve a problem is. Good luck trying to get ahold of the professor, either. There's nothing posted anywhere about how to get ahold of him if you have questions; no email address and he doesn't respond to the question forums. I finally found his canvas email to get ahold of him with questions about a subject but his answers left me more confused than enlightened. It is what it is but English isn't his first language so when one is trying to understand complex topics and someone is explaining them in broken English...well. Not to mention that the homework assignments for each chapter frequently had complex questions that were not covered in the 5-minute "lectures". I was very frustrated by this class. What pissed me off the most, after months of busting my ass to figure out this complicated math on basically my own, when I go to take the final (which essentially makes your grade for the course) I found 4 questions with typos in them. I'm talking questions where literally the grammatical structure of the sentence doesn't make sense or there are key words or numbers just straight up omitted from the problems. I was flabbergasted. How could UC Berkeley have such shit standards? I took screenshots and emailed the professor and to be honest I couldn't even really understand what his explanation was but he gave me points for those questions and I just dropped the issuing, fuming. Lifespan Psychology- Listen to a bunch of excruciatingly long and boring lectures and then just write pretty much two essays every module (there's 12 modules). Be prepared to write A LOT. However, I felt like this teacher didn't give two shits about what effort I put into my papers. At first, I made my assignments top-notch, using quotes from the text, doing research, citing sources, etc. Every time I got 100% and just a "good job!" comment from the teacher. Soon I started letting my assignments slide down in quality little by little to see what would happen yet I still was getting 100%. By the end, I was turning in work that was way below my personal standard and still getting 100%. I literally finished that class with an A+ 100%, which if I'm being honest I find ridiculous. Although I did learn some interesting stuff, being challenged and actually given some constructive feedback shouldn't be too much to expect. Also, the teacher always took weeks to get back to me with grades or any questions I sent her via email. Nutrition- This class was the saving grace of my UCBX experience. This teacher actually was very responsive and actually looked like she took some pride in organizing her canvas page. She gave good feedback on assignments which was much appreciated. I learned some good things in this class. The one constructive criticism I have of this class was that her lectures were just her reading straight off the slide and it was all very complicated stuff. I would have appreciated a little more focus on what we specifically needed to know for a General Nutrition class and less information about the more complicated concepts that seemed far more advanced than the scope of this class. read more

Don't do it. I keep forgetting to review this, having taken a course in 2015, but will never forget what an utter scam this program is. UC Berkeley should be embarrassed that its name is associated, and any supposed educator (such as my Calculus 1 professor Steven Pon) should question whether they are serving students' self-betterment, or instead lazily making money. There was 0 relevant instruction, more "read these sections, do these problems" from a textbook. Feedback on assignments was single-word; "good" "great". I could have easily rented and read an expensive textbook without paying another $900 for this privilege. The professor's role (Steven Pon) was almost exclusively as a grader, not a teacher, and then because I was able to plod through the assignments with no previous representative feedback or dialogue, I got a terrible grade on the closed-book final exam. The money was a complete waste. Because the professor (Steven Pon) wouldn't work with me, my grad school made an exception and let me retake one of their own calculus tests, and since I was able to watch Khan Academy for two days straight and actually learn the concepts, I passed with no problem. This whole thing is a money grab, both by the program and the professors. Try your local community college or something instead. read more

I recently completed a certificate program through Berkeley Extension, which required four courses to complete. Overall, I had a very pleasant learning experience, especially because I was able to complete all of my courses online on my own time. The instructors I had, especially Monica Ranes-Goldberg, were extremely responsive and helpful when I needed help understanding any of the course material or assignments. My only negative comment is that some lectures were recycled from previous instructors and were somewhat out-of-date. In general, would recommend to others interested in taking any post-baccalaureate science courses. read more

If your goal is to simply take classes, these are expensive but sometimes interesting. On the other hand, if you'd like a transcript and some counseling, I say stay away. I took about 20 years of classes, including ones to satisfy various teaching credentialing and various certificates. After an interval of time, they now can't find my transcripts. They don't keep a separate transcript for each individual with all the courses they have taken. Instead, you have to tell them each course they're looking for, including the year and the specific title. When your history with the school is as varied as mine, that's nearly impossible. After 25 years, they don't even have that. Also, they don't take responsibility for what their advisors say. I paid money to have an educational advisor tell me what courses I had left to take in order to meet a 2 year credentialing deadline. I was given a list of the courses to take. Two years later, I returned with all requirements met. The advisor took one look at it (including his signature on the bottom) and said, "Nope." He elaborated that those were not the courses I needed. When I stood on principle and told him he had recommended these courses for me, which took time and thousands of dollars, he excused himself from the room. When he returned about half an hour later, he said I would qualify for a certificate no one to this day has ever heard of, called the "Standard Teaching Credential." There are no update requirements. I've never had time or money to take a full credentialing program elsewhere, so...so much for teaching my subject. As you can see, they're not really good at records and requirements. read more

Pros: I already had a degree and I needed specific upper-division prereq courses for a science graduate program. Compared to a 4 year university, UCBX actually has seats open and is cheaper per credit. Courses at CSUEB and SFSU are usually full and more expensive. Cons: Strip away the UC Berkeley name, and UCBX reveals itself as a for-profit college masked as a non-profit entity. They are masters at charging the most they can (but still remain attractive), and stiffing you on education quality. Their drop, refund and transfer policies are designed so that most people decide to drop after their refund deadline, so they keep all the money you gave them. I've taken three upper division science classes so far, and most professors are mediocre at best. I've dealt with professors not knowing the material very well or at all, or lacking passion in the subject they are teaching. Lecturing usually means 3 hours of hearing someone read off the textbook-provided slides verbatim. It's torture if you like going to class to be intrigued or inspired. I was able to survive UCBX because I know how to teach myself. Some profs think they are doing you a favor for not using the textbook, but the result is they are holding you hostage to their crappy lecturing skills or crappy grasp of the material. Read the textbook anyway! There are exceptions, try to go for the profs that have a greater than 3.5 rating on ratemyprofessors.com. There are some truly good science profs here. However, my average learning experience is worse than mediocre. I read later that UC Extension programs need to be self-sustaining and receive no money from the UC system. This is probably why so many structural things are fucked up here - little money for quality professors, more incentive to design the drop/refund/transfer policy to extract money from students. Public colleges should be funded adequately so they're free and do right by their students! read more

I'm writing this since it's been a few years since I took extension courses through this program. I was really excited when I found it because the courses all seemed so useful. They had all the buzz words and made it seem like I'd become really knowledgable in industry stuff. I took some computer classes because I thought it would help me find a better job. But looking back on it, the classes didn't really help with practical things. And a lot of them were very thereotical. I think extension should be about practical things and helping you use it from day 1 and get a job with it (or do your job better). They should make this program more focused on job seekers and job betterers (is that a word?) because I think that's what all of us are looking for. We're not 4 year degree people who can afford to learn theory or take it slow. We need compact, tight, to the point! read more

Took a class with JP Novin (Essentials of Management). Excellent course due to JP's extensive (and current) experience as a startup founder and CEO. Highly recommended. read more

UCBX has been such a waste of time and money. I am a post-bacc Pre-PT student finishing up with my pre requisites for doctor of physical therapy programs. I would not recommend UCBX to any pre-health professions student, UNLESS your specific program(s) specifically state that lower division pre-requisites (like General Chemistry, Bio, Physics) must be completed at a four-year school. UCBX has marketed their program to say that their pre requisite science classes fulfill this need (that your classes need to be from a four-year), however, there are two problems with this claim. #1 - PT schools (and other professional schools, such as nursing and dental DO NOT require that your general sciences come from a four year). #2 - the quality of education you receive at a CC (like Merritt College) is FAR and AWAY superior to what the "professors" have to offer at UCBX. UCBX science teachers are professionals in their field - they are highly educated, intelligent, and perfectly fine human beings, but they are NOT all good educators. I switched over to Merritt College to complete the rest of my sciences, and every single teacher I've had there is excellent at teaching their subject (O Chem, Physics, Anatomy, Physiology, and Microbiology). All this, by the way, at literally a TENTH of the cost of courses at UCBX. The administration / customer service sucks. 1. You cannot access your grades or unofficial transcripts online. LAME!!! 2. Official transcripts cost $15 each (twice to three times the cost of every other school I've attended). To order your official transcripts online, you have to authorize the order EVERY time you want another copy to go out (not just once) - which is a major PITA when you're applying to grad schools. 3. The face to face customer service is about as sweet and kind as a disgruntled DMV clerk They don't take / offer financial aide. The post-baccalaureate certificate in pre-health professions is good for nothing. Professional schools care about what they have stated in their requirements (GPA, test scores, pre requisites, volunteer hours, etc.,) The UCBX "composite letter of recommendation" - more UCBX marketing crap. This composite BS is harder to obtain than just getting legitimate, individual letters from professors that you have to have anyway. The bottom line is, all that extra money you're paying to go to UCBX is simply the "name". But then again - it's not even UC Berkeley - your expensive, hard-to-obtain transcripts are printed with the name "UC Berkeley Extension." Don't waste your money! read more

I took the Essentials of Management class with JP Novin. The lectures were engaging, the case studies were interesting and relevant, and I am leaving with some solid problem-solving and performance measurement tools to take forward into my career. I liked that the class was manageable for busy working professionals. read more

I've taken 2 lab/lectures at UCB Extension and the instructors (note: they are not professors) seem very knowledgeable in their respective fields, however they were inept when it came to actually TEACHING. They don't seem to understand the students' varying knowledge (or lack thereof), and seem to have no clue (or care very much to tweak their instruction style) when it's obvious the class is completely lost. I had to do a lot of extra research, Khan Academy reading, and youtube-watching to compensate. And while working full time, it was extremely frustrating since one class required a lot more time than it should have. More than half of the class left after the quiz in the beginning of lectures because most believed studying on their own was more helpful than the instruction. I am certain most, if not all, of the students in each of my lectures gave disapproving feedback on the end of semester evaluations, but nothing seems to have come of it since both instructors are still there. The curriculum, which is governed by the administration not the instructors, is disorganized and confusing. For example, the instructors state in the beginning of both lab and lecture for Chem 1A that the material is not in-sync and instead of taking lecture & lab succinctly, they suggest taking the lecture one semester prior to the lab unless you want to end up doing a lot of extra reading ahead to keep up. Seriously?? That doesn't even make sense. I'm paying $915 for a 1 unit class + $160 for a textbook and you can't make courses more straightforward?! Extension should use some of the astronomical fees they charge to train their instructors how to teach and the administrators how to organize curriculum. I went to Cal as an undergrad and the quality of instruction doesn't even compare. The only upside to Extension that I can see is that since their fees are so high and they basically run their organization like a business moreso than a school, classes don't typically fill up very early, so you can join most classes after the semester has already begun (which seems to be a problem, at least for science classes, at community colleges). There is also the advantage of the UC Berkeley name, which really only seems to matter if you're applying to traditional medical school. I completely agree with everything a previous commentator, Teuflin, had to say. read more

The quality of instruction is highly variable. Some instructors are great, others mediocre. The major problem is a bloated bureaucracy. UCBX resembles a politically correct employment and benefits scheme that produces education as a sideline. The regents should anonymously go through the registration process for a few courses and then actually attend. Then they would see the problems from a student's point of view. read more

DO NOT TAKE ONLINE LEARNING CLASSES. There is no instruction, zero lectures, presentations, webinars, videos etc. What are you paying for? You're paying for someone to tell you to read a book and do lots of homework. Go elsewhere. I'm going to request a refund and they'll probably deny me. read more

Beware of their class drop policy. I had to drop a class ten days after the start of a class and they kept every penny of my $765.00. Unfair policy . They would only refund if under the care of a doctor. Most Universities would have refunded at least a partial amount. My dropping that class did not earn them the full tuition. read more

I am so thankful that I have completed my certification through them and will never take any other classes there again. I completed my project management cert a while ago but am now trying to take the PMP exam and have to fill out education information on the application. During the time that I was taking classes there they switched and updated their site, so then I had two different logins on two different sites. I was told that everything would eventually be combined. Well that was a big fat lie. When I logged in today just to get the class information only one out of six classes was listed. So I called and talked to the same unpleasant lady that is always there in the office and picks up the phone and she said no the only way you can see that information is to order your transcript which cost $17.25. Which is fine, I don't care about the money. All I am wanting at this point is to be able to fill out the class information and not my grades. So because they lied about the combining of accounts I have to hold off and wait for the transcript to come in the mail. If you have the option to go to another extension school do it. They've never been helpful there since I started and are horrible and getting back to you. In regards to the courses I did the Project Management online accelerated courses. Teachers were fine but the certification hasn't done much more for me. I'm about to pay more money to do the exam prep at another local extension school in my area. I paid a decent amount to do the cert and to get some snooty lady on the phone is extremely annoying when all I'm trying to do is see some of the details of the classes I took. read more

I'm sorry but UC Berkeley Extension has the most incompetent transcripts department I've ever dealt with. I've spoken with Cassie and Lola(? she mumbled and would not tell me her name again), and both of them were completely in the dark about how to process their own transcripts. I had faxed in my authorization forms weeks ago, and was calling to check up on them, and Cassie immediately took a defensive mode and was quick to question my actions (such as whether I had faxed it to the right number... of course I did, it was written right on the page). She was very unhelpful and randomly yelled at me, which caught me off guard. Luckily she transferred me to another lady, who turns out to be the one person who can get your stuff straight. Side note: If you have transcript questions/issues, ask for Mary Anne. She is more helpful than the others. I had the unfortunate need to send yet another transcript to another institution from UCBX, and this time I spoke with a lady named Lola (possibly). She could confirm that one page was received, but I had faxed in two pages. When I asked her to check for the other page, she refused to, and just wanted me to call back to ask for another person the next day. In addition she also immediately got defensive when I asked for her name, and would not tell it to me again! When I asked when the transcript would be sent out, she asked if it was rush. I said no. She proceeded to tell me that it would take 12 - 14 days for processing. Are you kidding me? That is completely untrue. My last transcript was sent out a day after everything got sorted out. It does not take two weeks to print something out and put it in the mail. This is not AMCAS. This is the transcript department of an extension school, and they should really be more on top of things. I've had transcript sent from many different schools, ranging from big universities to small city colleges, and they all have sent transcripts out without a hitch. This is the only department that consistently has issues with something so simple. The administration here is a little off, and pretty incompetent to say the least. Be wary and adamant when you request things from them. read more

First time taking a class at UC Berkeley extension and appalled by the quality of instruction. The instructor not only does not know the material but what she mostly does is read her PowerPoint slides which are a "copy and paste" from the textbook. She can't answer most of the questions asked, assigns exercises/homework from the book she doesn't understand and we have to subject ourselves to being graded by someone who has to be educated by the class. I would totally drop this class if my work hadn't paid for it. Just a waste of time. read more

I'll keep this short and simple: Took an online class because I need the self paced in order to finish the class by application deadline to a program I am applying to. Mailed in final exam request. Two weeks later mailed again and responder said sorry they forgot to deliver the final exam to designated proctor. Contacted designated proctor and found out I have to pay an additional 40$ just to take the exam. What? Why wasn't this disclosed when I enrolled? Price tag is already absurd and now they are charging more just to take a test. read more

After several years and a handful of classes in Berkeley and SF, I have resigned myself to the fact that this school just plain stinks. The directors either don't know or don't care about the quality of instruction. It's a lottery as to whether you'll get a decent instructor or some old retired hack who has no interest in teaching the course other than to tell personal war stories. Online classes are even worse. They are NOT SELF-PACED. The convoluted student portal combined with an incommunicado instructor will leave you wishing you had just read the book on your own and saved $$$. Save your time and money and look elsewhere for instruction. The incompetent run amok in this school. read more

AVOID AT ALL TIME! Look Chem X105 (biochem) online and Rebekah Marsh is NOT fair. Overall online quizzes, I got As (mini paragraph). When it comes to finals....that's a whole different story. First, they give you a study guide. When it comes to taking the final, you need a professor to watch you (fair!). Well the questions given on the final was not very detail. They would ask what is _____. Well, I got points mark off because I did not draw the reaction. WHAT? That was not even on the question. When I tired to petition the score, UCB said it was on the study guide that you need to know the reaction. I KNOW THE REACTION but DID YOU ASK FOR IT? I also got marked off points because I did not answer as detail as the study guide. Let's be real, study guide is not always covered on the exam. If you want me to be detail on the exam, then ASK the right QUESTION! Extension SUCKS! AVOID AT ALL TIME. WASTE OF TIME AND MONEY! read more

I was enrolled for a hot second for two classes and dropped due to the cost. They don't give a crap if you were dying and your kids are going to starve they will charge you for the "labor fees" for those seconds or minutes or hours you were enrolled. $100 for somebody to just remove you it takes that much money to do it. They don't give crap how broke your family is they will take. No exemptions they need to pay the person that cancelled you. Won't even consider this place for any future educations. They do not encourage or help or are simply not interested people who are in need. Disgusting. read more

I'm taking my first course in pursuit of UC Berkeley's Marketing certificate. I am halfway through the online course and have had a great experience so far. The assignments are very clear, well spaced throughout the weeks, and interesting. The professor immediately grades each assignment and gives detailed feedback. I highly recommend this set of courses. I have already learned a lot, it is definitely worth the money. read more

If you know how to be self-sufficient in your studies, then this is the ticket to a new career or career advancement. I am speaking from my experience with the Certificate in Accounting program. The U.C. Berkeley reputation does in fact hold true with the accounting classes I have taken (6 so far). They are moderately difficult and are self-paced. Do not expect much help from professors, as many of them are simply paper-graders and assignment collectors. Many of them do not even write their own lecture notes. Sometimes you will get a professor that has lots of input on the discussion boards or answers questions in a timely manner, but do not expect this to be true all the time. No longer are the days of office hours, personal attention, raising your hand, or immediate confusion clarification. Many Yelpers have complained about the administration at U.C. Berkeley Extension. I have had NO PROBLEMS with their performance. I have not requested any transcripts or refunds. I have, on the other hand, requested 5 final exams through the admin. staff. Their system, albeit old fashioned, has worked 100% of the time. To sum up my experience, I am getting what I need out of this program. I need college credit in accounting to sit for the CPA exams. I could have done without the discussion boards, the homework assignments, and the lack of thorough explanations on lecture notes. Basically, I am reading the text and learning on my own. I recommend U.C. Berkeley even though the price is extremely high for what you are getting. read more

I agree with all the other reviewers. Can't believe that UCBX is such a rip off. $900 for a online course and then you have to pay extra $135-$170 to have online access so that you can do the home works. It's not a class by UCBX, it's by Mcgraw-hill. Teacher was missing in action for the entire course. All you do is pay McGraw-hill money and read the book and do home work. All with out any lecture or help from the teacher. The teacher does not have any office hours and did not reply to any of the email. I think the teacher did not know the subject at all. As a result, if you are stuck with a problem then too bad... you are stuck. Now McGraw-hill is advertising for paid coaching! I was expecting a real university class but end up getting a course that was out-sourced to McGraw-hill by UC Berkeley. read more

DO NOT ENROLL IN THE ACCOUNTING CERTIFICATE PROGRAM. I'm an honors student with a Bachelor's from another University and am just a few courses from completing the UC Berkeley Accounting Certificate. I will get my certificate elsewhere. I have been acing the classwork, the discussions and quizzes. THEN COMES THE FINAL. It seems unrelated to the course work and I have TWICE failed. The first time, they changed the course because everyone else failed the final, too. Well, it happened again and the professor even admitted to me the questions seemed "random.". Not sure what's going on, but it appears you are being set up to fail rather than being educated. Oh, and the cost is going up. read more

The professors are a definite hit or miss. I would give one of their professors 5 stars (we'll call this one Professor #1), but unfortunately, I've had a less than one star experience with another professor (we'll call this one Professor #2) from this institution. Professor #1 was kind, engaging, stoked to share knowledge, extremely timely in grading, always left feedback on your assignments with either more information that was interesting about your topic, words of encouragement, or clearly commented on the direct cause for why you missed points. The prompts were clear as well as assignment expectations. Also, all midterm exams graded were returned with detailed comments within 3 days of submission. Professor #2 was a completely negative experience from the first day I submitted assignment 1. This professor was a tough grader, which I usually don't mind and normally enjoy, but this one was the kind who seemed to never want to give anyone an A for anything, and the best you could squeeze out of #2 was a low A at best if you wanted to spend 8 hours on the assignment instead of 4 hours to get a B+. Responses were completely vague while ignoring any questions about the material and was just generally unhelpful in all communications where you asked for more than just the syllabus spat back at you or, in the event that examples were given, when asked for further help in understanding or for an example to be provided for an issue in which no previous example was given. Basically, you were dodged if you tried to probe further into why you weren't getting those A's you so desperately wanted when you met all of the criteria on the rubrics provided in the course syllabus. Especially if after all the unhelpful suggestions, you point out that you still felt you met all pointed out criteria, why you felt that way, and how by the definition of #2's vague expectations you in fact did include what was asked for. Your burning desire to have your work acknowledged will ultimately go nowhere and you will cry. At least, I cried. In all instances of correspondence Prof #2 maintained an almost plastic-like professional demeanor that I visualize as coming with a corner lip-twitching smile bordering on psycopathy seen only in the eyes, but was ultimately unhelpful and responses will quickly degrade into short and terse blips of words that will make you wish you hadn't bothered trying to ace this class in the first place. Grading also felt extremely arbitrary at times as well as aimed at giving cursory acknowledgment that the information asked for was indeed in the assignment while also keeping your overall grade below an A. Bottom line: the $850/course fee should not be taken as an indicator as to the quality of the instructor you will receive. As for the administrative office, when calling, no one on the phone gives any indication that they truly wish to help you. More so, they all seem to just want to get rid of you and view you as a nuisance. Not part of, I don't know, their job description. You are an annoyance to their day. Those who are pleasant are not helpful and will simply cheerfully redirect you to someone who will not answer their phone or return your call in a timely manner, if at all. Emailing them works best if you're looking for a response. Unfortunately, the good I experienced with one professor did not outweigh the overall bad. Considering the probability of actually getting a decent and caring professor at this institution and the chunk of change it carved out of my extremely reluctant hands, I give this place one star. read more

4/5 starts: "Yay! I'm a fan!" About ME: pre-medical student who has already taken a year of General Chemistry, Organic Chemisty 1, Physics 1, Online Genetics, Statistics, and all associated Labs through this institution. The PROS: -getting science labs is as easy as buying an airline ticket. This is what made me leave SF State's Open University for UCBX. -all of the teachers I've had have PhDs, which will help them stand out when I use them for letters of reccommendation for med school applications. -Multiple class locations, which helps for those of us who work part-time in other locatons. -I genuinely feel like I am learning everything I will need to know for the MCAT. -Some of the teachers are friggin' awesome! -You get to know other students term to term, as you all follow the same educational trajectory. -Class sizes are reasonable. -Many class time offerings to help with people who works days and/or nights. -I have witnessed, on one occasion, an (attempted) improvement in a teacher after various complaints were written to those higher up. She was eventually transfered out of the subject she was teaching. Therefore, I believe this institution cares about quality. There has been a long, recent sreak of dissatisfaction on Yelp. I believe this comes mostly from frustrations with teachers. As with any institution, there are good ones and bad ones. NEUTRAL: -The Post-Bac Health Certificate Program: I am not aware that a medical school requires any certificate. I had originally applied to SF State's Post-Bac program (which rejected me on the basis of a lack of prerequisites. Ironic.). When I didn't get in, I realized there would be NO WAY for me to ever get my labs. So I cannot emphasize how valuable it has been to guarantee my labs in UCBX months in advance. Worth the inflated price. And you do not need to be in the post-bac program. Students I know who are in it are happy with it, but I struggle to see how they actually benefit. It seems like they end up paying more money for it (extra required seminars). But they do get counseling services and access to the next term's class schedule before I do. It doesn't hurt to have the Post-Bac certificate. UCSF med school admissions officers spoke favorably of both UCBX and SF State's post-bac programs and said it's really up to the student's discretion, and let the matter rest. The CONS: -High variability in quality of teachers. Some have been incredible and helpful, and others have been draconian, impersonal, useless, downright terrifying. I declare that the least helpful teacher I've ever had in my life was my physics teacher. That being said, I worked myself to death and still got an A, but other equally intelligent students were not so lucky. Sometimes I feel like the teachers couldn't get jobs anywhere else. I feel very lucky to have had mostly competent teachers (I learned to do due dilgence). But I also hear lots of horror stories. -You should know how to teach YOURSELF a subject from a textbook. Teachers are good at sticking to the syllabus and curriculum, but my successes came mostly from my own hard work. -Labs are EXPENSIVE. -Online Genetics: DON'T TAKE THIS CLASS ONLINE (unless you are already familiar with the subject). Tests and quizzes do not reflect coursework in a predictable way; there is a lot of emphasis on knowing your subject inside and out with multiple-answer multiple choice quesionts (be wary of complicated semantics), as well as applications of statistics and difficult pattern recognition problems. I'm a 4.0 student that cannot master this class online and feel like I would need a photographic memory to ace all the quizzes and tests. I'm disappointed by what may very well be my own shortcomings; still, I cannot fathom how anyone feels that a subject of this complexity can be taught online. Special note: my disappointment in no way refects my opinion of the instructor. I have no knowledge of who developed the curriculum. My frustrations stem mostly from my inability to understand test questions as they are written. There is no instructor at the front of the room to ask, "I'm sorry, but can you please clarify the language?" I wish someone anywhere on the internet had reviewed this class before I decided to take it. read more

This review is for the Certificate Program in Human Resource Management---a total of ten courses---which I completed in September 2015. Most courses were offered only at the San Francisco campus, but I was able to take some in Berkeley (which was more convenient for me). The quality of course material and instructors was all over the map. A few courses were excellent: each class taught me something I could put into practice at work the next day. A few other courses were abysmal, and a complete waste of time and money (but still required). The rest were somewhere in between. On its own, this certificate is unlikely to help you land an HR job. I pursued the certificate to supplement relevant work experience, and I think it has helped me professionally. However, at $800+ for each of ten courses, it's an expensive investment. If your employer will subsidize all or part of the tuition, it's a no-brainer, but if you're paying for it yourself, make sure it will complement your actual work experience. read more

I'm currently enrolled in a certificate program at the extensions, and so far was very happy with my experience. A lot of negative reviews here it looks like had to do with the actual instructors, which I think is not very fair. There's no course, degree or ANY educational program that would make you smarter, better, or more professional. It's what's going on inside that matters. It's you, who have the power to make the most out of your learning experiences. Some instructors are better than others, clearly. Do your research, talk to your classmates, and for the future classes find the best instructors to "fit your needs". Some of the classes, that I had taken literally changed my perception of life and self - Jim O'Donnell's Leadership Class was one of those. I came out with a totally different outlook on life, and deeper understanding of myself. I also met some amazing people in the program, who I wouldn't have met anywhere else, as we all are from different industries, and backgrounds. Overall advice is, yes, this is adult education, so do not expect a college experience, no-one will "babysit" you, there's a lot of reading on your own. Is it good? Yes, it is! Good luck! read more