eCornell Reviews

“Worked for me

Pros

I had an amazing experience at Cornell when my son participated in an exchange program. I could have lived there forever but not when I was younger. I am so grateful for the opportunity now. It is such a great place and I regret not appreciating it more when I was younger. Plus the staff was incredibly perceptive and I cannot thank them enough. I missed my chance but I appreciate it now.

Cons

There is nothing to say from my side as it is all about my son now and his experience.

“Very clear and well put together

Pros

Well I really liked the variety of formats used for the course work. It kept me engaged with the material through different delivery methods and the group chats were a great touch. Also the facilitators were amazing as well.

Cons

All the facilitators were on East Coast time and I was on the West Coast which made communication a bit tricky. However overall I was very happy with the experience.

“Wouldn't suggest it if you have been working for a while

Pros

The learning platform was pretty easy to navigate. Unfortunately that is where the positives end for me.

Cons

As someone who has held multiple operations roles, I am very much disappointed in this 4 course certificate program. Frankly it was shockingly bad. I cannot believe they market this to C-suite and executives. This would be a great course for college students or advanced high-schoolers but it is nowhere near the quality you would expect from a program aimed at professionals. Unlike other certificate courses, this one seriously lacks content and applied learning. There are no case studies, no deep dive into organizational challenges or how companies solve them. Instead you will learn basics like how to read an organizational chart and spend modules learning about stakeholders. Also you will be told that companies like USPS, UPS and FedEx deliver packages but do so differently. However there is zero insight into why they operate differently or how you can apply that knowledge to your own business. And if this review sounds overly harsh it is because the course truly fell short. I regret spending almost $4k on this. The assignments are just lightweight questions based on companies you have worked for. If you have never worked in a matrix organization for instance you won't learn anything about it other than that it exists. I have taken courses at Stanford and Northwestern Kellogg and those were in an entirely different league like same cost but far better quality. So I would recommend looking elsewhere rather than Cornell.

“Great idea but the content's hit or miss

Pros

I loved having 24/7 access to the course material while it was in progress.

Cons

The modules are often missing very important information. Some courses like Operations Management, lack key details and the downloadable tools do not always match the course content and sometimes do not even work properly. That course in particular is not a good value. Also many of the courses are not available as individual modules. Like I have to progress through them sequentially and I cannot move to the next module until I finish the current one. Plus interaction between learners is limited usually just responding to an assignment question. Occasionally you can ask another learner for clarification. And the instructors are often vague when answering questions and tend to just restate what's already in the course. It is no wonder that these courses are not highly valued on resumes and why many companies won't pay for or reimburse them.

“Totally regret paying for this

Pros

One thing I would like to mention is the online format as it was good and easy to navigate through.

Cons

Let me tell you that the professor was way too unprofessional and unhelpful when I had questions. There were grammatical errors in the materials. Like I expected so much more from an accredited Ivy League school but their online platform has a lot of room for improvement. Even though I passed the certification class it took six months and a lot of effort to get my completion certificate. The result of it is that I ended up learning more from my own independent studies than from this course.

“Avoid it at any cost!

Pros

I mainly took this course because of the prestigious Cornell name.

Cons

The review you wish you had read before taking this course. I recently completed the Digital Marketing Course through eCornell. It is normally $3,700 but I got it on sale for $2,500, which seemed like a good investment for a Cornell course. However it is important to remember this is eCornell not Cornell. Let me explain. The course is listed as 8 weeks long divided into 4 sections. They claim it takes 6 to 10 hours per section but in reality, each section only has about 30 to 45 minutes of prerecorded videos around 3 hours total for the entire course. The videos are made by Cornell staff but the course itself is run by outside vendors like by people with 3+ years of industry experience. And while the vendors were nice, they did not have much in-depth knowledge. On several occasions I received class project feedback that seemed copied and pasted from other students. Watching all the videos and completing the class projects only took me about 1.5 hours per section. Also the course was highly superficial with no extra readings or resources outside of the 30 to 45 minutes of prerecorded videos. It was such a disappointment because there is so much to learn in the digital marketing field. Also there is no real world application in this course as it feels like you are just skimming the surface. To summarize I would say $3,700 for 3 hours of videos taught by someone with 3 years of experience and it took me only 6 hours to complete the whole 8 week course. So I would say save your time and money and avoid this course.

“Covered everything without getting boring

Pros

The curriculum was detailed and comprehensive. Also the online delivery was well produced and even though the workload could be spread out, the deadlines kept me actively engaged in learning. And the best thing is that personal assistance was available whenever needed.

Cons

Well I took the course under the old payment model not the subscription format. I think I prefer the old way but that is just a personal preference. It is not a deal breaker though.

“Not worth a cent, let alone a paycheck

Pros

I was able to learn some valuable tools and I appreciated being able to learn at my own pace.

Cons

There is a lot that I would like to say. I enrolled in the Business Analytics certification course with Professor Haeger. Several parts of the course were filled with mistakes. Each course has a facilitator but some are better than others. The good facilitators pointed out the mistakes and provided clarification which should not be necessary for a course that costs $3,000. All the instructions should be clear and included in the course material without needing to check the student lounge for additional instructions from the facilitator. One facilitator mentioned that these errors have been there for years as the videos were filmed in 2017 but they have not been updated. I regret not taking a free course from another platform. Cornell really takes advantage of students and this course is no exception. It is outdated, low quality and not thorough. Even without the mistakes, the course was poor in its instruction. For $3k I expected detailed, thorough content but the Business Analytics course did not provide that. I had to Google several functions to understand how they worked. What a waste of time and money.

“Detailed learning experience

Pros

The Certification in Nutrition and Healthy Living program allowed me to work at my own pace while still having deadlines for each module. Overall it was a perfect balance of freedom and accountability.

Cons

I had a hard time attending office hours because they often conflicted with my work schedule. However I do appreciate that I still receive links to upcoming programs and events through e-Cornell which helps me continue learning if I choose to.

“Upskilling made simple

Pros

There are so many good things about it. Such as online courses have a challenging curriculum, with tough assignments that demand a lot of effort which is great. The deadlines keep me on my toes. Overall I had a highly enriching and engaging learning experience.

Cons

One thing I dislike the most is that the deadlines for assignments were strict and never flexible.

“Nice experience throughout

Pros

I really liked the faculty as they were quite experienced. The discussions were also to the point and focused with plenty of cross cultural interactions.

Cons

The course felt like it ended too quickly. I think more case studies would have been beneficial.

“Learned a lot during the COVID downtime

Pros

The professional structure of the course along with real-life examples was proven highly beneficial for me.

Cons

I wish the introductory videos from classmates were mandatory. I had trouble uploading mine but I still think it is a much better way to get to know your classmates than just reading text introductions.

“This program really changed my direction

Pros

My Change Management course was exactly what I needed for the challenges I am facing at work. The subject, method and process were spot on.

Cons

Well I would have liked a follow up course. Like it would have been great to have a part 2 after implementing what I learned.

“Couldn't have asked for better

Pros

I learned new things that have expanded my thinking and are practical for my daily job.

Cons

Everything was amazing so I have nothing to complain about!

“Didn't waste a second of my time

Pros

The short yet focused videos were my favorite part. As a part time student, I could watch 4 to 5 minute videos during office breaks which was a huge help compared to other courses I have taken where the videos were over 3 hours long. Also it meant I could complete multiple parts of the course in between work breaks without disrupting my day.

Cons

The feedback I received felt very generic and lacked constructive criticism. In many cases where I thought I could have improved, I was simply praised. While I appreciate the positivity I would have preferred more feedback on areas where I could have done better.

“Not just theory but real examples

Pros

eCornell course was a perfect balance of theory and practical application including self reflection. Plus I must say the research based models in the theory are also very relevant to leadership today.

Cons

I think the cohort interaction and collaboration could have been designed better.

“More than just slides and reading

Pros

The course was paced according to my needs with clear instructions and well organized course documents. And most of the course consisted of projects with real life examples and transcripts were available.

Cons

Some of the timelines for deliverables in the modules were a bit confusing and did not align with the course order. And I would have liked more feedback on the final projects.

“Enjoyed the group learning vibe

Pros

One thing I really like is the Study Group within the Project Management certificate program as it was pretty helpful for preparing for the PMP certification.

Cons

The interface took some time to get used to and I feel like it could definitely be improved.

“Learned a lot without getting bored

Pros

The courses really focus on essential thinking skills which I like the most about it.

Cons

I think management's communication is something which can be improved because it was not great.

“Helped me make better HR decisions

Pros

I really liked how the course was divided into bi-weekly modules. Also the structure was very helpful in keeping me aligned with deadlines and discussions. And the final assignments for each module were a great way to summarize everything and apply the knowledge to practical situations.

Cons

It is not a complaint but a wish that we had explored more analytical tools like Tableau and Power BI, tools that are actually used in the workforce. Learning these would have helped me get more familiar with the technology and the growing field of HR Analytics. Though I understand that this is an asynchronous course but it would have been nice to have more opportunities to interact with other participants. Specifically I wish our final projects involved working in small groups on a specific case study or assignment where we could apply what we learned similar to MBA or MS-level classroom work.