[deride1980]

Hello There Everyone...its me, DERIDE1980....has anyone ever been to, attended, or known anyone that has attended OAKSTERDAM CANNABIS UNIVERSITY? I am seriously considering learning about their curriculum and cost of courses etc, but I wanted to ask my W.Tracker Family first...any thoughts, experiences, advice, etc sent to me through a Private Message would be GREATLY APPRECIATED!!! Thanks everyone and HAPPY TOKING!!!
~DERIDE1980 aka 420GRAZER

[handeyman]

I have heard the commercials, although I do not know much about it because I have never been nor no anyone who has, I imagine you can learn everything you would learn there online.

[pf444]

I see the postcards everywhere but have yet to meet anybody that has attended.

[arielb98]

I have attended all classes.. Beginner and Advanced. Why would you want to attend it? What do you wish to accomplish or learn?

[omik]

The glass blowing class sounds straight up amazing.

[ca-grown]

dude do it! if i had the cash i'd do it! one love <3
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[MJP420]

Originally Posted by arielb98

I have attended all classes.. Beginner and Advanced. Why would you want to attend it? What do you wish to accomplish or learn?

What did the classes teach you, and do you feel you REALLY learned anything there you couldn't learn online? Was the atmosphere professional?

[herbwalker]

I've tried an edible from someone that took a class there for it. It was nice and didn't have the green/leafy taste to it. Just tasted like a regular cookie.

[arielb98]

Originally Posted by MJP420

What did the classes teach you, and do you feel you REALLY learned anything there you couldn't learn online? Was the atmosphere professional?

It touched a lot about legalities, a bit of growing and customer service on running a coop. I liked the class because it made me network with a lot of people who wants to start the biz. I am pretty knowledgeable about the industry already when i took the class so it didnt really do much for me. One thing though, they won't point you to where to get meds at wholesale prices.

We started a collective for start up caregivers who doesn't have the volume yet to get medicine in bulk. PM me if you are interested.

thanks,

[craka]

its a three month class? right?
like 500 at the most. i think.

[arielb98]

Originally Posted by craka

its a three month class? right?
like 500 at the most. i think.

i think the new class is like that.. i went on the weekend class.

[DCHerbs]

Anyone have special reccomendations for a chemdawg crop?

[grapeape]

hahaha weed classes dats a class i wouldnt ditch hahaha i would love to learn to make my own glass peices tho looks dope

[craka]

awww...its out in la?
san vicenti er something?
oh they have a website.

[arielb98]

Originally Posted by craka

awww...its out in la?
san vicenti er something?
oh they have a website.

yep, right of san vicente... i think u missed the class registration already.

[craka]

shit really?

[houstonblowskush]

If I wasnt down south Id take the classes. Personally I would do it to learn the whole co-op bizness...but Id have to relocate and that cost money. So until these plants bring in enough donations, Ill be here. But i will get there..I give it a year

[cannabest420]

It seems like the university provides much needed knowledge.

[msjudged_1]

Originally Posted by cannabest420

It seems like the university provides much needed knowledge.

very much so. i attended the la course and it was very informative on all aspects, which was great to learn about.

[RUSH Fan]

I registered for their full 13 week semester class and it starts on June 11th. Once I complete the class and final I will be a Oaksterdam University Certified Bud Tender.

I'm looking forward to it and will up date on my progress.

[gee2013]

Yes, I am attending this spring 09 semester. The classes are good and full of information. The way that I am taking advantage of the school, is to not only gather knowledge for this industry and also gather a lot of contacts.
With the popularity of the school, I think that all classes are totally full.
Good luck.

[Bryon]

I wonder how their glass blowing courses compare to the ones UC Berkeley offers in summer. Anyone know?

[soze187]

personally, had a horrible experience with this school in LA. if you are looking to attract unwanted attention for yourself and get harassed by law enforcement, definitely go to oaksterdam!

you know its not a good place to be,
when the cops show up and try to intimidate people on THE FIRST DAY OF CLASS,
when the instructor begs the class not to light up not even a cig outside because the cops will come.
not only that, we are warned that DEA officials were possibly in the class with us.

they are good people, but....too much of this:

[Kushad]

Originally Posted by soze187

personally, had a horrible experience with this school in LA. if you are looking to attract unwanted attention for yourself and get harassed by law enforcement, definitely go to oaksterdam!

you know its not a good place to be,
when the cops show up and try to intimidate people on THE FIRST DAY OF CLASS,
when the instructor begs the class not to light up not even a cig outside because the cops will come.
not only that, we are warned that DEA officials were possibly in the class with us.

they are good people, but....too much of this:

are you serious? DEA undercover in the class? Mannnn...that is nuts!

I guess its safer to just learn online.

[Tyrol]

Attended the University's Oakland campus this past semester. I personally feel that if you're knowledgeable about cannabis then attending OU will probably be nothing more than a refresher for you, though you might learn a new thing or two; mostly, though, you'll make some some new friends and connections in the industry as well as meet and hear lectures from some very cool people. My favorite was Dennis Peron, but he's since been fired :/

If you're new or fairly new to all things cannabis, then as others have pointed out pretty much everything in the curriculum can be found online; and the required texts aren't unique to OU so you can find those online or at bookstores too (e.g. Jorge Cervantes' hort bible). Even the thick binder you're given at the beginning of the semester is nothing more than copies of material downloaded from the Internet, or what's available through Peace in Medicine if you're a member there. It's just accessible for you in one place so you don't have to search for it yourself.

I, myself, fell under the "new to the industry" category. I felt the beginner course was mostly a review for me as I learned through my own research much of what was taught in the classes. What wasn't a review was of high value to me like ways to handle yourself during LEO encounters; or waiting until the trichs are amber, not milky white, before harvesting.

The meat of the semester for me was going to be the advanced courses as I was there to learn about the industry. This part of the curriculum ended up being a huge disappointment for me because it was way too brief. So much material to cover in so little time that a lot of it was quickly covered then moved along to the next topic. Since the business side of things was taught mostly by lecture, I wish it had been covered more in-depth. Instead I cynically feel I could saved my time and money by talking with a budtender, dispensary manager or someone else working in the industry.

The grow labs were another huge disappointment for me. The instructor who taught the labs, Joey, was awesome and very knowledgeable; but again the labs suffered from not enough time and were breezed through. I realized that most everyone in the class knew what they were doing already anyway, but for us new folks we might as well have saved our cash and just bought Cervantes' bible. Also, I thought the lab was going to be more hands-on. Instead the only hands-on was spraying our paper-towel-wrapped seed with water the first day of class, then saying goodbye to it as it's carted off elsewhere for someone else to grow and tend to.

Ed Rosenthal was another speaker whose knowledge I couldn't wait to absorb, but again I should have saved my money and just bought his books because he had to rush through his lecture leaving out much material because he didn't have enough time to cover it.

Disorganization was another frustration. Staffers seemed to have their shit together, but no real direction or idea what was going on. I sensed and heard other students speak of receiving different answers from different staffers about the same question leaving students unclear. I never received a satisfactory answer about why our homework assignments were about material that was to be covered during the next class meeting. Again, if you know what's up then it's a refresher for you anyway, but those new to the industry needed to rely on other ways to find the answers like through fellow students which I guess is good for networking purposes. I'm understanding that it's been a busy few months for OU, but being more organized helps improve the rep as well as dent the clueless stoner stereotype. Tweeting that the title and summery is in for your taxcannabis2010 initiative, then linking to a competing campaign's initiative doesn't make you look good.

OU would, I feel, would better serve their students if they broadened the curriculum. Offering more classes, more meeting times per week, etc. Apparently that is a long term goal of the University's, but for now it breezes by covering mainly the topical stuff that's available on the first couple of pages of a Google search or cannabis related forums.

The certificate they offer may be reason enough to attend, but currently that certificate is scoffed at by many; plus it's hard to use that to get a foot into door of a dispensary when there are no jobs to begin with and when they do open up they're given to friends and family of dispensary owners and employees first. Which leaves going independent, so do you need a certificate from a cannabis college to be a so-called cannapreneur?