UCLA Extension Gayley Center — Attraction in Los Angeles

Tried to take a class at the UCLA extension school for my own personal reasons, and it sucked so bad. I have been to many universities over the years, and this was a mess.. I wouldn't recommend anyone deal with this school. Number one, they have no "live staff," meaning nobody EVER ANSWERS THE PHONE AT THE EXTENION SCHOOL. It is so frustrating. COVID IS OVER, so they need to show respect to their students and have staff go back to answering the phone during live business hours. Instead, they dump you to voicemail, and you have to wait for staff to call you back, which is crazy as what other job allows staff to not do their jobs in real time? So it's convenient for UCLA but not for people who need to have help IRT. Second, the language class I took was a huge waste of time where they dump you in that HORRID VHL (Vista Higher Learning) system which is not Canvas and the professor doesn't teach. You are stuck doing near 100 assignments A WEEK FOR AN EXTENSION CLASS. 100. If this isn't busy work, what is? And, if you don't get a perfect score and don't agree to do it again until you do? You cannot move on to the next lesson. How punitive and ridiculous is this? The professor wasn't even a native speaker, they were from another continent and so learning from them sucked, so why doesn't UCLA show respect to native communities and speakers and hire a local? Literally almost every college does. Third, the classes are way overpriced and you can go to Harvard and take an extension class cheaper. HARVARD. In what world or reality is UCLA better than Harvard? Lol. Not one. The messy and chaotic Canvas of my professor was so bad it was unreal. I don't recommend anyone take any extension classes at UCLA as it's no human contact unless you have to practically beg for help, they don't answer their own phones in live real time because their staff's comfort is more important than students learning needs apparently and it's so bad for students with disabilities. Waste of money for a school to dump you into the worst rated learning platform on earth. Vista Higher Learning is a joke and a simple Google search can show all it does is frustrate people to quit or get it done and you learn next to nothing. Lost 1000k and oh, the "class descriptions" when you BUY THE COURSE do not tell you critical information such as you are not learning in Canvas, you are being forced to BUY AND USE A THIRD PARTY system to learn that is automated called VHL and you must pay hundreds of MORE DOLLARS FOR IT. Also, if you try to get help, they want you to file an official and daunting, "incident report" IMO, to scare you away from complaining. WE ARE NOT EVEN ENROLLED AS EXTENSION STUDENTS, SO GOING THROUGH ALL THIS DRAMA IS CRAZY.

WORST LEARNING EXPERIENCE OF MY ENTIRE LIFE AS A HUMAN BEING AT UCLA EXTENSION. This entire setup is lacking in proper UP FRONT information you need to buy a class, lacking in actual live support, and learning isn't self-paced or fun, it's by yourself with the stupidity of deadlines for a class no teacher actually teaches IRT in, and you get penalized and can't go at a pace a comfortable FOR YOU. Schools are supposed to help STUDENTS. UCLA sucks. What a horrid experience and they don't care. I'll take classes anywhere but them next time and I am out 1k over this garbage ordeal. Oh and from reading other reviews and UCLA's dehumanizing rote response which is the SAME to everyone on here who wrote a bad review, you know...

A fundamental problem with the program is that its marketing is misleading. It was advertised as accessible to "all levels," yet the content was entirely unstructured for beginners and demanded a pre-existing familiarity with the subject. This left inexperienced students behind from the start. Furthermore, the material itself was clearly outdated and misaligned with current industry standards.

The program's practical components were superficial and inadequate. We were given the illusion of acquiring hands-on skills, for instance, running simple exercises in a heavily controlled environment, but these labs lacked any meaningful real-world application. We were not properly trained on the fundamental tools or methodologies required for an entry-level cybersecurity role. The program's failure to impart usable skills is directly reflected in the poor job placement outcomes. To my knowledge, only two individuals from my cohort secured employment in cybersecurity, and one of them was already working in the field.

Furthermore, the instruction was a significant issue. While the instructors were amicable, they often read lessons verbatim from slides and frequently struggled with the program's own virtual machine environments and testing platforms. This technical unpreparedness severely undermined the learning process and eroded our confidence.

Finally, the program's heavy reliance on the "UCLA" affiliation is misleading. It deliberately creates an expectation of "high-caliber education" that the bootcamp simply did not deliver. I gained no demonstrable, usable knowledge from this course. It was, in my assessment, a profound waste of time and money. I do not recommend this program to anyone seeking a genuine entry point into the...

PROS: -Nearly all of courses are open enrollment, which makes it very easy to enroll. -There is a range of classes and many of them are offered both online and on campus. -The staff are very friendly and helpful. -The refunds department is very helpful. -Enrollment is easy to work with. -Certificate programs can be more applicable to real world than some undergrad degrees

Neutral: -There is a clear distinction between UCLA and UCLA Extension.

Cons: -No student ID cards are issued to extension students -Generally excluded from using library, recreational activities, some other resources that require a student ID. -You do not get a student email account -The extension parking permits are only usable after 4:30pm, so if you perhaps find yourself at the school to meet with your professor or student services earlier in the day, you will need to find another parking option. -The Data Science Intensive program is not worth the money. You will likely need to Google all your coursework...