I have taken classes online for Educational Therapy and I have enjoyed what I have learned through the professors. All the instructors I have worked with have graduate degrees and several years of work experience. You can tell the instructors love their jobs, are passionate about their areas of interest, and are motivated to help you become a well-trained student and excellent professional. They want you to do well and be ready to move into the field in due time. In my opinion, I think that these courses will be a positive experience for you if you have at the minimum 2+ years of full time work experience in public education, special education, healthcare, occupational therapy, and or psychology. The classes were well-paced, organized, made sense, and directed students to many resources to use as students and professionally in the field. We were encouraged to join certain professional associations to keep up with professional education and to specialize. The trainings we were referred to in order to develop or enhance our skills have been well-rated, well-regarded, meet the gold standard, and are well-known for actually being helpful for the learners they are targeting. They offer several online classes to work at your own pace. More now, in fact than before. They have several classes each quarter which is convenient because you can finish many classes each quarter if your finances and schedule permits. They have short courses which make sense for the topics they are covering. When you do have to attend online meetings, they have commonly been on Zoom once or twice a week. They do have hybrid classes with alternating online meetings via Zoom for a couple of hours and independent work on your own time. Sometimes they have weekend seminars that last for a good chunk of time over a couple of weeks. I have yet to find them dull. Because this is a post-Graduate certificate, the work is rigorous. You do need to have childcare, family supportive care, and manage your calendar and daily schedule very well. You need a quiet corner with great internet to sit in lecture, put in the time to read, and plan out your writing assignments and projects. If your life and family are not currently peaceful, calm, and orderly, wait to start the classes until they are. The instructors are so helpful and supportive, but they can only do so much. The amount of reading assigned is generous, but never painful. The material is useful, relevant, interesting, and thought-provoking. I'm looking forwards to learning more. read more

Games & Playable Media Alumni here! The building went through a recent renovation about a year or so ago during remote classes. So the interior is super modern, team offices are spacious (TV's in each room with ip screen sharing), great lecture room technology, and overall clean. There's usually always security at the front. And kind staff if you ever need anything. Great space for learning :D read more

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Avoid taking Project Management courses from UCSC Silicon Valley Extension. The classes do not reflect real world projects where I've not seen any of the topics used or talked about at my places of employment. None of my classmates found Project Manager jobs after graduation. Courses are over $1000 each. read more

I have been taking professional development classes for my current job for the last four years. Overall, I've been pleased with my classes because I've been able to directly apply what I've learned to my job (work in tech). Instructors have ranged from simply ok to very good, classes are plentiful, diverse, and accessible (many remote options) and the administrative staff is very helpful and responsive. Workload can vary, but is manageable. I will say their refund policy is very strict, so you should only sign up for a class if you are committed. I will finish my certificate next year, but plan to continue taking classes. read more

DON'T DO BUSINESS WITH THEM!!! They Make it sound very simple to sign up for classes but they don't open disclose that dropping a course will cost you $40, further more if your are a VA student they will require that you plan ALL YOUR COURSE FOR A CERTIFICATE WELL IN ADVANCE. So i followed there VA Rep and planned my classes for a certificate in advance only to find I am not properly prepared for the courses. So I decided to drop the courses. Then I get a email saying they will mail me my first completed certificate but that the mailing address was wrong and that I should email them a updated address, the first letter I get is an Invoice NOT MY CERTIFICATE. HONEST AND UP FRONT HUH? read more

UCSC Silicon Valley Extension - The cost to drop a class well before it even starts. They will lie to get your new address just to bill you. - Colleges & Universities Near Me - Santa Clara, California

Worst online java beginner class. He use videos made in 2011 with blur display. I can't believe how they provide these videos with expensive tuition. (500 dollar!) And his records are not well-organized. I think he didn't prepare to speak before making the videos. I guess you can find higher quality classes in Udemy with under 20 dollar. read more

I took two classes at UCSC-Silicon Valley and I have a "meh" opinion of it. This is going to be a mixed review. The first class was a disappointment from the start. It was taught at a much lower level than described in the course catalog and I didn't learn much at all. The instructor, I could tell, was way behind the times and was teaching technology that was perhaps two years out of date. Also, it seemed that he didn't prepare in advance and just lectured off the cuff. All the while he was passing himself off as an expert in the field. The second class was actually quite good. The instructor was very knowledgeable and up-to-date and I learned some valuable skills. He actually *is* an expert in his field. As others have mentioned, the classes are quite expensive. I think that most people must be having their employers pay the tuition. Now, here are some specific things that irked me: - During the entire five-month period in which I was taking classes, the soda machine in the student lounge was out of order. At times there would be a note that it would be repaired soon...but it never was. Five months and they couldn't get a working soda machine? - They seem to have a lot of trouble controlling the temperature in the classrooms. One time it was so cold that everyone was shivering, and another time it was so hot that we had to find another classroom to move to. - In one of my classes the video projector was broken throughout the class. I know that these may seem petty, but in my opinion for all the thousands of dollars they are charging for the classes, these kind of things should be handled better. read more

I am taking programming related courses here and have generally positive experience. There is no selective admission process, so people with different level of skills can enroll. This creates obvious challenge for instructors, as they need to deliver different level of material at the same time. Many students are already working in the industry and willing to learn new language or improve their skills in some area. Some small number of the students can barely understand programming concepts. Many instructors, especially those with deeper and up-to-date knowledge of their own subject, succeed in having most students getting sufficient amount of new skills. Some instructors don't. This is especially noticeable if the course description enumerates more advanced topics, but in the class you are getting clear understanding that the material won't actually cover what was advertised. The industry experience of the instructor has positive influence on the quality of the skills you are getting. Instructors with industry experience are less likely to deliver theoretic concepts, which may be not applicable to the current software development process. read more

I like its high speed wifi, break room (w. fridge), computer lab, basketball court side of the building. - Hours operation: M-F 8 AM- 9:30 PM, Sat 8 AM - 5PM, Closed on Sunday (They have special holiday hours) read more

I've taken a lot of classes over the years including getting a Masters degree and to some extent, how much I've enjoyed those classes had to do with the staff of the facility. The people at UCSC Extension are some of nicest I have ever encountered. Helpful and informative just begins to describe them. The facility is also one of the cleanest I've been in as well. I noticed that another review commented on the soda machine. All I have to say about that is what kind of person complains about that when there is fresh brewed coffee, tea, and water available for FREE every night of classes? That reviewer is right, that is petty. read more

December - time to submit my reimbursements for the classes I took...Low and behold, once class I finished in October still has not posted grades. I went to the student service and asked why and was told "...you need to wait the full 6 weeks after the class before the grades post" There were only 5 people in the class...come on how hard can that be. It took 2 more week, 5 times me calling and 4 times being told to wait another day to get it resolved... Don't get me wrong - the most of the classes are great - it's the administrative part that needs improvement. read more

Nothing fancy. Its just a large building with a bunch of classrooms. Parking is plentiful if you get to class early. After 5:30 the lot fills up and you have to start stalking people who leave. There is a student lounge that has a small kitchen sink, microwave, and a few vending machines. I do see people camp out in there but its kind of depressing so I don't go in there except for coffee. Each classroom is equipped with a projector, a video projector and a computer. There are long tables and chairs. The classrooms are a bit depressing too, no windows. If you get cold easily bring a jacket, the AC is strong. read more

This review is for the administrative staff ONLY. I would have given it 0 star if I had the choice. Anyway, it is difficult as hell to drop the class and get a refund even if you have a legitimate reason (let's say it's a medical condition) that you won't be able to attend the class. I'm still in the process of dropping my class and get my company's refund. They tried to argue with me because they don't want to give the refund back, and that the policy is stated on the website. Well, hello! There are exceptions, especially for medical reasons. Long story short, staying in a 3-hour long class will worsen my condition no matter how they'd attempt to accomodate by letting me stand/walk around the class. First of all, it's distracting the class, and second, I don't want to compromise my health just because of a class. They said they would need a doctor's note and I provided them the note and they were still arguing with me. When it is for a person's health/safety, I think any place should be obligated to grant one's request. UCSCX disappoints me, and I will never ever sign up for a class there ever again. No wonder they have low enrollments for most of their courses. read more

Education is what you want it to be. There are some areas that need to be improved but we have to remember that this is an extension of the main campus. The administrative staff is superb in my opinion. They quickly answer emails, the director and I met face to face to resolve issues TOGETHER which is something that I never had the privilege of at my 4yr college. The range of classes that they offer is simply enormous and the quality of teachers that they demand are amazing. This place makes me excited to learn and does so giving me a positive outlook on the future I am crafting. I would have offered them a full 5 stars but I do feel that their online classes need some work. Perhaps this is me just not liking the online classes and that online classes do not work for me and that in itself is OK. BUT UCSC does offer them and they are available to those that want them. I just wish that they were "taught" a little differently. So in fairness this really should be a 4.5 star review. Good job UCSC Ext! Keep it up! read more

Modern building - unexceptional classrooms (but what do you need really?) Hopelessly time consuming to reach via public transit, much more convenient if driving - but parking can fill up if you have an evening class. Class quality (of course) is dependent on the instructor, and as with most extension classes are fairly expensive. read more

Great examination center! $25 for proctored exams... I had my final sent here from UC Berkeley. This saved me the long drive and hassle of traffic. Facilities are clean, there is plenty of parking, and they provide fresh coffee and teas in the student lounge. Best of all, Shirley (who works at the front desk) is extremely helpful, friendly and organized. Just one thing to consider... desks are shared, so when it's busy you may feel cramped if you're the type of person who needs tons of scratch paper and likes to spread out. read more

I just completed an online course and had a great experience! The registration process was as easy as online shopping (did it on my phone), the course management system was very easy to understand, & the instructor was phenomenal! I have taken online courses before at other institutions and I can proudly say this was the best experience. The course I took was 3475 Learning Styles with Cornelison Hopla. Not only is the physical location convenient, but the quality was worth every cent. As a professional with a masters, I had high standards and they totally met my expectations. I wish they offered more courses as I am taking them for professional development in my current career. Recommend it for anyone wanting to take courses that can't be done at a community college! read more

Money making place. You absolutely don't get what you pay for. Most, if not all, of the instructors have very difficult English/accent to understand. Courses are not well-organized and most instructors are sloppy. I took 4 courses at this place, one of them is online. The online instructor's accent is so heavy, he can't even pronounce the "sh". He calls it "s". So pay attensen as he tries to so you his Englis. Please, give me a break. This is an instruction job, and ONLINE. This only shows that whoever wants to teach a class at UCSC Extension can simply do it. Apparently, there's no diligent pre-screening process and the standards UCSC-Ext has are below negative. One other instructor compiled a stupid PDF file with about 4 line in each slide (with very large font). The material was extremely useless. All he would do is reading the slides out loud. The guy has been jobless for a long time and UCSC-Ext hired him to TEACH. He gave no assignments, ended lectures up to 1 hour before the official end time of the course. For one of the midterms, he didn't return our answered midterms. He just graded them online. When we asked him about our work, he smiled and said that he didn't set it up in a way that enables him to get each student's answers. He just provided the solution to the system and the system graded our exams, provided that there were fill-in-the-space questions, which could have multiple correct answers. He didn't even announce the opening time for the second midterm beforehand to prepare for it. If you're an international student, this is just a place to take advantage of your situation and charge you as much money as they desire. As an international student, you have to be enrolled in at least 12 units to maintain your status and get an Optional Practical Training (OPT). OPT is absolutely useless. Who's going to hire you to work for them for a year and then let you go? I'm a living example, immigration laws in that aspect are extremely strict on both of you and your employer. The chances for you to get a job while you're on OPT and get your H-1B is very very slim and uncertain. A lottery system is used to select who would get the H-1B and who wouldn't. So, by going to UCSC you will be wasting at least 9 to 12 grand and not learn anything that you can use to get a decent job in the U.S. or anywhere else. Please, don't support this business. They mandate international students to pay $2000 just to "show how to apply for OPT and maintain your SEVIS record". You can apply for the OPT on your own. Every legitimate school has the resources for how to do that on their website for free. As the SEVIS record, they just need to logon to the system and update the student's information, only in the case of a change in the circumstances. UCSC-Extension made me sick. I'm glad I didn't go there for a long time. The only benefit I got from there is getting to know some of the smartest students I've ever met. Most of the students are waaaay more knowledgeable than the instructors. I am never going there again. On the positive side, I had one class that I really benefited from the instructor. So, I spent about $6000 and my benefit was worth about a $1000 or less. Money well-spent Oh, and the staff is nice! They would come right at the end of your class and kick you right out. The person who's in charge would get so mad at you if you haven't packed your stuff and ready to go by 9:30 (which is the end of the class). keep in mind, this would be the only chance in the entire week to ask questions to the UCSC-claimed instructors read more

I am very glad that I am taking classes here. I am going to take HR certificate. The classes are interesting and give a lot of practical information. The material( books) NOT expensive and the same time give you all information that you need. Teachers very helpful and support you during the class. One time I had some problems with my class, and the Program Manager Christina Shon helps me very quickly and I am very appreciated it. I am writing this because I want that everyone who think about what school to apply, know that this school provide you with everything that you probably need for improving your skills, receiving more opportunity and find good friend. read more

Don't sign up for INTRODUCTION TO MACHINE LEARNING AND DATA MINING! I recently signed up for for this Class. I was very disappointed from the Class instructor. She is a poor lecturer. The lecture slides seem to be mix of prior presentations without order specific to the course. There were no conceptual introductions and we didn't spent any time on fundamental concepts, there were also complains in class about the same. Instructor seems genually surprised on the slides content. Most of the time students from the audience answer and explain tricky questions, the instructor does not cover in depth or demonstrates competence in the subject matter. And unfortunately the REFUND policy of the UCSC Extension Silicon Valley is completely UNFAIR. Students are PUNISHED for instructors inability to lead lectures. Under NO circumstances they will return your money back or allow to attend other classes instead. I really thanks that YELP exists where I can leave my review so that other students don't be mislead by cool advertisements of UCSC Extension Silicon Valley! They just want to take your money without offering GOOD QUALITY of service! read more

So far I have taken two courses at UCSC (Project Leadership and Communication and Role of the Project Manager). Both classes taught by Alan, and they were exceptional. The course materials were interesting and the class lectures were amazing - he's a very good teacher. Now I'm on my third course (Project Integration and Risk Management) with Carl and I'm really enjoying it. read more

I have taken some classes here. You really have to choose the right class for a good experience. There are bad and good lecturers in this Extension. For example, I have taken "Data Structures and Algorithms with C++" class from Jagadeesh Vasudevamurthy. This class was one of the best I have ever seen including my Ms degree classes. I have learnt a lot, although I am a developer already. Jag was so awesome. On the other hand, I have taken Mobile Interface Design from Eric Dorf. It is the worst thing I have ever seen in my life. This was a 6 weeks class, last week was all student presentations. And in remaining 5 weeks, Eric Dorf came in and made groups for morning session, and it was all talking with other students until noon time. This is called in-class lab exercise. It was very boring. In other part of the day Eric Dorf makes a very simple presentation, where you can simply learn nothing. Half of the class stopped attending to lectures after second week. If you are interested in learning mobile design, just save your money and watch a few videos on youtube, you will learn more. But if you want to learn some marketing, you can actually take this class and watch Eric. He was very motivated to sell his other classes to us. I am not sure about his teaching abilities, but he is definitely a marketing guy who desperately tries to sell his classes in every way possible. It was very annoying for me to listen his marketing all the time, but I had the chance to observe aggressive marketing and this is something valuable to learn. UCSC stuff is friendly and nice. But be very careful before you buy a class. There is no refund after first day of the class. I wanted to drop Eric Dorf`s class after first day, but it was not possible. Just be careful while you choose. read more

Be very careful of these folks. Their drop class policy is unfair. They want you to drop at least 3 business days in advance of the class, but the syllabus is not released until the day before the class, meaning you don't get any detail about the class in time to know whether you've chosen correctly or not. Why they cannot make the syllabus info available at least 3 days before class starts is beyond me. But this is the way it is for all classes. read more

I took an introductory level java course with UCSC extension and the class was an awful experience. The instructor spoke poor English and their was little to no guidance provided when I asked for clarification. The last few videos of the demo and lecture were very poor quality and I mentioned to the instructor I felt his explanations were unclear and video quality poor. Instead of taking the feedback to himself he said I should watch them slowly...and he would talk to the admin about voice quality. Overall I felt this was a disgrace to the UC system as a whole and this extension really ought to think about a better way to provide quality education. The costs of the classes are too high to justify poor instruction. Will be dissuading all my co-workers and companies from sending workers to this place. I'm better of learning from actual engineers or taking a free online java course. Complete waste of time and money :( very upset. read more

I had a terrible experience at the UCSC Extension. Threw away $700! PLEASE READ THEIR UNFAIR REFUND AND CANCELLATION POLICY BEFORE REGISTERING! After completing the Accounting Certificate at UC Berkeley Extension I needed a couple of extra courses to qualify for the CPA exam. Since UCSC Extention is closer to me, I decided to try them out. On the first day of class the instructor tells me that the Cost Accounting course I'm taking covers the same material as a course called Managerial Accounting I had already taken at the other extension. Of course I was not aware of this prior to the first class. The next morning, I called the Extension to cancel the course and they said their policy does not allow for cancellations after the start date. Well, the problem was I didn't have the right info until the first class! Then I tried to ask for a credit so I could take another one of their accounting courses. Took me a couple of days to hear back, so I actually drove there and tried to talk to somebody. They don't allow students to see their coordinators, who are just upstairs. I had to use a phone at the reception to talk to the director. After driving there twice and exchanging about 8 emails with the director, I decided I just couldn't deal with unreasonable people anymore. She kept referring to the policy and could not seem to have the slight sympathy for the situation. I paid for my course out of my own money and just can't accept the fact that they took my $700 for the one class I attended! Seriously the worst experience I've ever had. I felt cheated and robbed. I'm sure some of the instructors are good. I'm taking a course in at the UC Berkeley Extension in SF at the moment and the same instructor teaches at the UCSC Extension. I'm happily willing to drive from Mountain View all the way to SF to take the same course at the other extension just because of how upset I am at the UCSC policy. Being a reasonable person, I do want to mention I've sat for two proctored exams at UCSC Extension and the front desk lady who dealt with me both times was very nice and professional. read more

The course structure is really bad. it seems like team of rookies run this course. They do not have the experience in course design neither in examination system. They are simply a money making business rather an educational institution. Again as many people already mentioned their course refund or transfer policy is ridiculous... here is what i went through....their system shouldn't have allowed me in the first place to take course 1 and II together as 2nd course has prerequisite of first. As much it was my mistake, it was theirs as well.. But they do not have staff with head on their shoulders to understand your needs, they copy paste the same answers written in their documentations. They will not work with you, guide you as a university is supposed to do. You get better service from a business than these people. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thank you for asking about transferring to the next Java section. There is no refund or transfer unless requested 3 days before a course starts. All transfer requests not within this timeframe, must be received in writing and reviewed by the Academic Review Committee. Please submit your request with all details via the following web form The Committee generally responds within 1-2 weeks. Best Regards, Jim Kostecka ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- If you need further assistance, please contact the Program representative, Jim Kostecka ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hi Jessica, Thank you for quick response. I am not looking to drop the course and/or refund, but rather I would like to postpone the 2nd course into the next session that's starting in Dec'14 so I can successfully complete both the courses. Course #6634 Java Programming Comprehensive has prerequisite course "Programming for Beginners #5185" which I am doing currently and there is no way I can move to the comprehensive course without completing the beginners. I understand it was my mistake as well to add both these courses in the same time slot, but at this time I will not be able to complete the 2nd course in due time and that will be waste. I would appreciate if you could please help me connect with your supervisor or someone who could make an exception and help me move me to the next session for comprehensive course. I want to make the most out of this session, learn and complete the courses. Please help me in doing so. Regards ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dear, Unfortunately, the deadline to drop with a refund has passed. You may still drop the course but you will not be issued a refund. If you are able to finish one course quickly, you may be able to finish in time. Please consider all options before dropping. To drop a course, please complete the Online Drop Request form. Best regards, ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Hello, I am currently enrolled in following 2 courses. 5185 ( Java for Beginners) and 6634(Java Programming, Comprehensive. Both the programs started at same time and ends on 12/16 at the same time. I am yet to start the lessons of the comprehensive course and I cannot start the 6634 until I finish the beginners course as the comprehensive course is more advance level. So, I would like to move my schedule for the Comprehensive course to the next online session to start the course later on once I have finished the Beginners course. I am sorry I didn't realize this at the time of adding the courses to the cart, but it seems now that I won't be able to complete both the courses together by 12/16 deadline. Please let me know what the viable options for me at this time to successfully complete the course? 5185 Java Programming for Beginners 5185.(083) 09/16/2014 12/16/2014 6634 Java Programming, Comprehensive 6634.(083) 09/16/2014 12/16/2014 Thank & Regards read more

5-6 year old instruction video! On top of that very difficult to understand the instructors as English and Communication is terrible! I cannot believe this school is still allowed to be in "business" . I would request appropriate authority to look into this specially the Junit online class . read more

I have very mixed views regarding this school. Initially, I was thrilled by the technology courses they offered. I have a degree in Computer Science, but wanted to update my skills. They had quite a few mobile and design courses. My experience with Trisha was initially excellent. She responded to my questions and emails fully and quickly. Once I was enrolled, my experience changed significantly. As mentioned previously, their class and drop/exchange policy is not only unfair, but it doesn't matter if you want to drop based on the fact that their materials are outdated, their online class video quality is horrible, or if you need to step up to a more advanced or step down to a less advanced course. The answer is always the same... "You'll have to pay an additional $1000 for that" As for the instructors, two were very good. They offered a variety of methods of teaching and were clearly invested in doing their best for their students. Unfortunately one has already left the school. One of the other instructors was in management and his programming chops were very rusty. Occasionally his answers to questions were wrong and other students routinely corrected him. That said, he was a very engaged teacher and went above and beyond to engage and help his students. He clearly put in a lot of overtime to assist his students and I appreciated his efforts. The last instructor was an absolute horror and the reason I'm spending time writing a review. I noticed below someone wrote a review for a few years back for an Android instructor that they felt was pretty good. I don't think it is the same instructor, as the current Android teacher is awful. Like the previous teacher I mentioned, his English pronunciation is not good. Unlike the previous instructor, I felt he had no desire to make the class a valuable learning experience for his students. He rarely made time for his student's questions, showing up moments before class and leaving promptly as class ended. He bragged about not answering his student's emails for at least 24 hours and frequently answered emails by telling students to go look on the Internet. Once after sending a second email stressing that I had looked on the Internet and couldn't find an appropriate answer for my issue he again repeated that I should look on the Internet. Unfortunately I had signed up for both of his classes and as mentioned by the other reviewers, the UCSC drop/refund policy is non-existent. After 10 weeks with this guy watching him make snide comments about other students, completely ignore my pleas for him to look at my code, I completed both courses without him ever giving me any feedback, comments or grades on any of the coding assignments I turned in. Our weekly exams were auto-graded and occasionally he would fix the ones that were graded incorrectly, but even his follow-through on that wasn't great. Seriously, zero feedback during both courses. Final grades weeks after the class ended was the only feedback I got. The worst educational experience of my life and I'm one of those life-long learner types. I gave up on him and took an Android boot camp while enrolled in the class and learned more in the first two weeks with them than I did in 10 weeks of his classes. If you want to learn Android, I recommend checking out the CodePath materials, Derek Banas videos and the Udacity-Google course. All very good, and free. For the love of God, do not sign up for this guy's classes, that goes double if you are a woman, and triple if you are an American woman. read more

I did an Instructional Design Certificate program a few years ago and it was a good experience. I recently enrolled in the Web Design program. I am not a graphic designer - most students in this program are. But I have a technical background and years (albeit dated) of programming experience. The HTML and CSS course instructor Audrey Blumeneau is excellent. Very organized, well thought out instruction and project plan. I signed up for the JavaScript for Designers class and can say truthfully it is the worst class in any subject I have ever taken. Instructor is completely disorganized, no plan or real instruction at all, bopping from one thing to the next in an utterly random manner. We literally sit in class observing a projection of the W3 Schools website while he clicks on the examples on the site. None of the examples are useful or explained. If you ask a question he always says "we'll get back to that" but never does. If you ask how to do something specific he says "I haven't showed you how to do that yet" and then never follows up. I ended up sitting in class for the last hour of each night on the Lynda.com website reading the transcripts of their Javascript classes. For $25 a month it is a much better investment and I learned more than in this joke of a class. The school's No Drop/No Refund policy sucks - especially if you are paying out of your own pocket and are not being reimbursed by a company. The classes are expensive and if you get a crappy instructor like this one - you're screwed. I called to complain and ask for a credit toward a comprehensive Javascript class and the guy I spoke with argued with me and told me that I "wouldn't understand a programming class". Never met me, doesn't know anything about my background, and told me that "designers aren't programmers". Didn't ask whether or not I'm a designer which I'm not. I finally hung up on him because he was not listening and not open to discussing a solution to my extreme dissatisfaction. Bottom line - I will not be pursuing the certificate at UCSC, They seem to forget there are other choices. read more

I took Role of the Project Manager. This was a great class and I got to implement the things I learned into my job immediately. The best thing about the classes here are that they are taught by instructors currently working in Silicon Valley. read more

A large amount of instructors are engineers from the industry instead of academia, they may have PhD degrees but their knowledge may not be as deep as typical university professors. However, they do have a lot of experience and examples on 'This is how industry has been doing it for the past xx years' 'The solution is not perfect, but it will work'. I found these kind of knowledge extremely useful. You won't dive too deep into technical in most of these classes(at least among the courses I took), but they will get you started, and give you some guideline if you ever need to use these knowledge at work. In fact, if you have enough experience, you can probably stretch out your instructor or find out the bottom of their knowledge. The coursework material is really easy compared to my college and grad school courses, you won't need to put too much effort on them and you probably will get an A. I took 2 courses from Edward Ong, I enjoyed them very much. These two courses are perfect for someone from workplace but want some extra background knowledge, while still having a good work-life balance. I would give these institution a 5 star if I only have taken those 2 courses from Dr.Ong. But unfortunately I realized the course experience is heavily dependent on the instructors themselves, more heavily compared to other academic institutions. There are instructors who are just bad presenters, do a horrible job planning out the course layout, and give you redundant material over and over, until you lose focus. There is a hardware course instructor, I learn basically nothing from him. Every class he will spend 1/3 reviewing what he talked about in previous class, another 1/3 giving you some fundamental physics 101, and other 1/6 sharing his life 'wisdom' and experience,which by the way, are heavily redundant as well. He always dismisses the class 30 mins early. Every time when there is a slightly complicated topic, he will put a couple minutes on it, give you some superficial explanations an move on, otherwise you will easily stretch him out, and he will give you some totally incorrect answers. I believe he is a nice guy and want to share with you his experience. And I might be a bit biased here, but I don't think this institution should be the right place for a retired engineer to chat with students and collect paycheck from that. Here comes the unreasonable part for this institution, the deadline for dropping a class sometimes is right after the very first class. It is very hard for students to judge the quality of a class only from first lecture, especially if this instructor spent the entire first class chatting, giving some so-called background history, and promised you future material would be much more serious. And you couldn't find a place to see the review for this instructor. They let you review the class at the end, but the evaluation form is not open to students, but only view-able to the instructors and their director. I would recommend UCSC open up the review to students, so that taking a class here won't be a hit or miss situation. read more

That's a great school. The school is perfectly clean and their infrastructure is great. They can do some work on their website that doesn't reflect the quality of the school. You can get some great professors that work on the greatest companies on the valley. Yes, most of the students are foreigners and you will find resumes from IT and developers in their early 20s that will make your jaw drop. Most of them will get great technical jobs. read more

I took the android programming course here and I really loved it. The professor was great and very helpful. I found the examples and assignments catering to the requirements of any android programming job in the industry. I really learnt a lot from this course. I have also heard from other people that the iPhone programming course is good, but I have never personally taken the course. I enrolled for another course with UI development with Jquery and found the course interesting. But as I was doing this course with basic kowledge of XML & HTML programming I had hard time picking up pace to keep up with the assignments. The professor was not very helpful in helping me out either. I would still say it helped me to gain a lot of knowledge in the subject even though I struggled alone to get to know very simple installation issues which the professor should have easily helped me out with. I had also enrolled for an online java course earlier and I was not very satisfied with it. The online courses just do not work for me. I think in future I would like to take only in class courses here as the other 2 courses are in class and I had positive experience with one of them. Overall a great institute catering to professionals with fulltime jobs wanting to learn new technologies. I wish they had an option to check out the course and professor for one week and then join the course. But they don't have an option of refunding the fees if you don't like the course or the professor and want to drop the course after a week of attendance. read more

The level of instruction I've gotten in most of my classes here is sub-par. As one other reviewer noted, there are a few good instructors who don't usually last long, and many really bad ones who seem to stay forever. The worst part to me, though, is the drop policy. You have to cancel a class 3 business days before the class starts to get a refund. So if you find out in the first class session that the instructor is terrible, you're screwed and you can't get your money back. As a consumer, I feel that I should be able to get a refund if I think the product is terrible, and in this case, I do. Since the university has no public rating system for the extension instructors, I won't take any more classes here so they can laugh all the way to the bank while I suffer through a bad instructor. read more

I've taken 3 technical classes from them so far. Two classes over 10 years ago, and recently another class in software testing. I hope more students yelp them because I have no idea how to evaluate the effectiveness of their classes. What I like about their curriculum is that the topics are current and often give you a kick start to any new technology you are required to know for various reasons. Three things I do not like about them: 1) the class content is opaque (no syllabus is given online... even community colleges give you more clue to what you're paying for) 2) cost is high - why aren't textbooks covered in the cost of tuition? 3) no data to correlate how valuable the certificate programs they offer are (such as increasing your salary or helping you land a job) read more

High tuition fee $1000 for 10 week class but not better than any community college. Took classes of Embedded intro, Internet of things but instructor know nothing about subject, most lab works failed, assignments with no answers. Waste money !! Waste time !! Credit not accepted anywhere ! read more

I will NEVER take a course from this place again. If I could give 0 stars I would. Not only are they ungodly expensive, their website is terrible, and their classes are a joke. I took a class in July and I'm still trying to obtain a transcript from them. I keep having to "chase" things. First it was my grade, now it's my transcript. I don't have time to make sure they grant requests that I'm entitled to as a student - especially for the prices they charge. They really need to get their game on if they expect us to recommend our friends and family. I wouldn't recommend this school to an enemy! read more

I have a very good time studying in ucsc-extension and EC English program. I am an international student who is doing the biotechnology certificate now. I had taken English classes for 6 months before I jumped to my certificate course. It was an impressive time for me. I built up my confidence during studying in my English classes. I learnt to write my resume, have a mock interview practicing every week, write cover letters and academic writing. We had a test every month. I entered in the intermediate level, even though I didn't know how to talk with Daniel at the first time I met with him. He encouraged me and gave my many suggestions to improve my speaking English. Finally, I reached the pre-advanced level after six months studied. That was amazing to me. I graduated from college 12 years ago, that meant that I had' used English for 10 years before I studied in EC English program. This campus has comfortable classroom, professional teacher. We went to hiking and other activities together, like BBQ and meet up event. I made friends with my classmates and teachers. After I start my certificate program, Daniel always tries his best to help me to find an internship. Last month, he organized an job fair in Silicon Valley, lots of our classmates can find an internship there. I highly recommend the UCSC- extension and EC English Program. read more

I enrolled in "Predictive Analytics: Applications of Machine Learning" course, it was a big mistake. Instructor did not know how to handle cases where there are too many irrelevant questions by the same person. Only the beginning content was explained and harder complicated part was NOT covered as there was no time left. Also UCSC-ex is very expensive, they say it is for professionals, but lot of beginners attend the advance classes and lot of time gets spent in covering easier topics and harder topics are NOT covered or instructors covers it really fast as there is no time. If you are a beginner this is ok, but it is definately not for professionals. Quality of courses has definately gone down and price has gone up. They do NOT refund the money. Instructor recommended I can drop out of the course but amount will not be refunded. He said advantage of dropping out is I would NOT fail the course, so my grades would not be affected. I am not interested in grades, I was more interested in learing and getting my money back if my requirements are not met. Very bad experience. Very expensive and bad quality. read more

I have had a very positive experience taking classes through UCSC Extension, quite different than what some other reviewers describe. I have almost completed a TESOL Certificate, so I am enrolled in my eighth class, and I have found all of the classes and teachers super helpful, except for one, so I consider that a very high success rate. In particular, the class assignments and texts have a terrific balance of theoretical and pragmatic, giving me experience and information which I can readily apply to my work. The class sizes are also small, so you get to know your teachers and fellow students well--creating community and optimizing learning. The cost of the certificate is also very much cheaper than SJSU, anywhere from half to a third of the cost if classes are spread out over time (as most of us have to do while working). If I have any complaint about the program, I think that the online part of the instruction emphasizes student forums too much without taking enough advantage of other online resources. But, happily, almost all of the classes in TESOL are hybrid, so there is plenty of excellent traditional instruction. As for the UCSC Extension staff, I have found them incredibly friendly, helpful, and responsive (with even same-day detailed email responses). So--overall, I'm really pleased with my experience and will definitely take more classes in the future if the need arises and will recommend UCSC Extension to others. read more