Just wondering if anyone is enrolled or has completed the masters program in criminal justice at U/lowell. Im looking into applying and hoping someone could lend me some first hand knowledge of the program. Also, they are an accredited school for the Quinn Bill correct? Thanks alot
Their master's program in quinn certified, and they have a non-thesis and thesis option within the program I think.
I received my Master's from UMass-Lowell, back when they had an extensive off-campus program (now mostly phased out with the new online program). Here's a little secret that they don't advertise....if you're a Veteran, and are willing to travel to the main campus in Lowell for classes, you can go for free. That's right, you'll pay for nothing but books. I got my Master's degree for a total cost of about $1200-$1500 for books. They no longer offer this deal for any courses but those on the main campus, I think I was one of the last people grandfathered in. That's the good news. The bad news is that the program is for real. This is no Anna Banana (Anna Maria) or Curry in a Hurry school, you're going to work your ass off. Most classes require a minimum of 30 pages of writing, which might be a 30-page paper, two 15-page papers, three 10-page, etc. Some require more.......much more. You also need to take Quantitative Methods, which is a nice term for Statistics. If you're willing to put in the effort, you'll get a lot out of it. If you have any questions, I'll do my best to answer them.
I would have to argue that "In a Hurry....Go to Curry" days are long gone. Curry is now one of only 5 CJ Master's programs appoved in Mass. by the BHE and good to go for the Quinn Bill. Prior to 2004, there were over 20 CJ Master's programs. Now, with stricter standards and regulations only 5 are left. Stats is a requirement for graduation. Oh yeah, there is no "Thesis or No-Thesis" option at Curry. Everyone has to do it. I am in the middle of writing my Thesis now and it is no joke. It looks like it will be aroud 50-60 pages when I'm done. Look into Curry, many of the people that were going to Anna MAria, Westfield, and others are now at Curry. The program has almost doubled in the last year or so. It's a good program....and only 10 classes required for graduation. Tuition right now doesn't break the bank either.....$1155 per course.
The majority of the programs lost certification due to not having two-thirds of their faculty holding Criminal Justice PhD. This was a major sticking point for some schools who were using Sociology, Psychology, and Education PhD's. To teach their courses. Most schools didn't have the resources to go out and hire people specifically for a C.J. program. The requirement was put in to stop the "War Stories" classes being taught by veteran law enforcement guys in the questionable programs. The bottom line is that there were some very respectable programs lost in the shuffle, and some of the others who have benefited from cops paying huge tution to get their Quinn Bill got to stick around because they could afford to. Had very little to do with actually looking at the content of the courses or the abilities of individual instructors. The state schools will always be a safe, respected route, but you will work for it.
I am currently enrolled in the masters program at UML. It is a great program with awesome faculty. The CJ professors have numerous publications such as Larry Siegel in criminology, and Brendan Welsh in crime prevention, as well as many other professors. As stated before they are accredited both for there undergraduate and graduate program, taught mostly by the same professors. It’s the real deal there is a good amount of reading and writing. I don’t think any grad student does all the reading that is assigned but it is not uncommon to have over 100 pages a reading assigned per class every week. Research papers are usually 15-30 pgs and some teachers assign more papers as well. This is not a hard program as long as you keep up with the work you will do fine, just don’t overload yourself with classes. If I can help anymore just send me a pm.
Greetings! I am in my 5 and 6th Grad Class at UML and couldnt be more pleased. I am doing my degree all online (11 classes total). I enjoy the flexibility of being able to do my weekly assignments whenever I want to as long as I get them in by the due date. I have taken traditional classes in person also and I personally feel that with the online classes, there is "no sitting in the back of the room and barely talking to anyone all semester". There seems to be a larger load of work given Online than in person, but it is managable. The work consists of a weekly discussion question that has to have an indepth answer with citations of studies and assigned readings, and/or a couple of lengthy papers. Also, we are required to comment on another student's answer "in a respectful manner". The makeup of the class is usually 20-30 students, 4 -6 of them being cops, the rest are made up of undergrads allowed to take grad level classes, other cj professionals, professional students, etc. One annoyance that I have with the classes is that sometimes students can get a little mouthy. In the Online class, you are just a name and text so people seem to say more than they would if people were face to face. Being in a class with some punk undergrad cj major who knows everything about police work "because he has been arrested before" can be a tad aggravating. Also, the professional students seem to think they can change the way police do the jobs based on the constant reading of their crap research studies. :rd: I have seen them post to class boards suggestions about using therapeutic ways to subdue a fleeing felon (take a timeout!, a little yoga, if you will???). Or, another example, to have sympathy for criminals for it is not their fault..... Our academy training is "too militaristic" to be dealing with the general public.... The insanity goes on and on.... (If anyone wants more quotes that LE should live by according to those who really DO know, PM me.... You will be laughing all day long) If you are able to ignore these folks (dont try to educate- as they are VERY set in their beliefs), you should be fine in class. Should you find yourself intrigued by this post and want more.... PM me. By the way GRE's are a requirement for admission to the program. I can answer those ?? too.
Thanks for all the responses. I appreciate it. Sounds like Lowell is a solid program. Im definitely going to look into it. I'm hopeing to start in the Fall of 06. I still need to take my GRE's along with gathering letters of rec from former professors and superiors in my dept. Thanks again for all the info.
Thanks everyone for all the background info on UML. I plan to start in the fall of 06. And based on what I just read, I think I will start with one course a semester rather than two. I chose UML over Curry based on UML's reputation. Curry may be a fine school but form what I have been told UML is a bit better. Suffolk seems to have a good program and Northeastern is in a class by itself, but both are a little pricey. I believe Lowell gives you the option of taking the Miller Analogy entrance test rather than the GRE. The Miller test is less expensive, shorter and a bit easier.
Congratulations, I think you're going to enjoy the experience, but be prepared to work! I took three courses per semester for three semesters, and two courses in the summer session, for the required 33 credits in one academic year. I also drove myself to the brink of insanity, and I certainly would NOT recommend that pace to anyone else. UML actually has an excellent reputation in the CJ academic world, and is right up there with Northeastern in national rankings by the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences. Suffolk has a good program, but it's mega-$$$$ and isn't even Quinn Bill approved. Curry also has a decent program, but if reputation is important, Curry probably isn't the place, since it's a small liberal arts college rather than a major university. I earned my B.A. at Curry, so I certainly have nothing against them. Correct, but the GRE is much more convenient to take, you can test at any Sylvan Learning Center. I took the GRE just for convenience, the MAT would have involved going into Boston during a weekday, a hassle I really didn't want. If you have any questions about courses, instructors, etc., feel free to post them here, or PM me, and I'll be happy to answer them.
