Clep, Dantes, and Excelsior test excepted...

Hello All,

I have run into a snag in trying to obtain my degree. I chose to go with COSC in hopes of having my degree finished by the end of March. It turns out that alot of the credits that I thought I had obtained, was construed as duplicate, and null in void.

Furthermore, I am getting no help from their academic department on what test are exceptable or what they will except towards their business degree.

So I guess my question is first, who has chosen COSC to gain a business degree through? And, if so what test have you taken and COSC excepted towards the degree?


Please help!

 

I haven't been a COSC student but I have faced the duplicative course challenge.

Fact is, many of the tests offered by CLEP, DANTES, Excelsior, and TESC (among others) will duplicate credit.

The best way to find out whether you are going to benefit from any particular test is to ask an academic advisor.

Excelsior, TESC, and COSC each publish lists of tests that they generally accept and with what score.

Exams Accepted by Charter Oak
this page lists the exams they accept, minimum required scores, discipline application, and amount of credit.

Some amount of duplicity is inevitable. You should be able to tell from this list though which tests are most likely to cause a challenge.

Also, I understand that COSC has an issue with the order that exams are taken in. You should discuss this with your academic advisor.

 

When I looked into Charter Oak, I found that of the big 3 they had the strictest guidelines about which exams duplicate and which can be used for a degree.

EG I took a course in Gerontology that was Lower Level. I needed an Upper Level Sociology. I asked if I can take the Upper Level ECE Gerontology and just scratch out the lower level Gerontology and the lady said no. They also would not let me take an exam to replace a course where I got a D after my evaluation, yet another advisor suggested a CLEP to replace the D I got in ENG 102...confusing... I'm sure you're also aware of the concentration essay by now also where all your choices have to be rationalized.

The ambiguity + the fact that the degrees are all basically General Studies were among the reasons I enrolled at TESC. I mean you can get a degree in General Studies from Excelsior with an "area of focus" in something. Then you can take almost anything within a few reasonable guidelenes. At least it's all in black and white...

THE GOOD NEWS is that of all the big 3, Charter Oak had the most hospitable advisors and student service people by a longshot!!! If you cannot get a clear answer by phone from them you can always try e-mail. With only 1 or 2 thousand students they have a lot more time to dedicate to the students.

Always keep the link Coach Turner gave you handy...

 

COSC is the pickiest of the big 3...

If you paid for their full evaluation service, you should have been assigned an academic counselor that will assist you in best matching up which credits you must take to get your degree. If that advisor is not responding, escalate it to the next higher person, or at least try to get in contact with the person that you initially did admissions with and explain to them that you're not getting the help that you need and who you need to talk to. Request a different counselor if you must.

I did end up checking out COSC (paid for the full evaluation service) just to see which one (COSC vs Excelsior) I could complete earlier. I had already determined TESC to be out of my budget range (although I could have done the military option). Plus, I saw with their degree plan that I didn't have all the required courses. COSC was the only school I wasn't sure about, as they do not have structured degree plans like Excelsior/TESC have in their catalogs to where you could do a fairly accurate self-assessment.

Back to COSC: I found out that I was short only by not having 6 credits of english (I only have 3) and the ECE business Policy and Strategy exam would NOT count towards the Business Policy and Strategy credit requirement. They said I had to take it in school. And they also said that it would duplicate whatever I took in school to satisfy the Business Policy requirement, so I couldn't even use it as an elective. I also had about 6-9 other Upper level business credits that I had to complete as well. And I would still have to write an essay justifying my degree.

That and the fact that I found out that I passed TECEP Intro to Operations Mgmt (the last of the requirements for my BS Gen Business Excelsior degree) pretty much sealed my decision to stick with Excelsior.

But by NO means should this mean that you should NOT chose COSC. Different strokes for different folks, as evidenced with LJinPA.

 

I'm not even sure if Charter Oak accepts TECEP according to that one list- I think only 1 or 2 of them...

IMPORTANT POINT ABOUT COST:
People always talk about TESC being too expensive... A lot of people in general who are concerned with the cost of their education will compare enrollment fees and costs per credit...However...
It is just as important if not more to look at all their catalogs and degree program requirements and including how much you can test out of and how much more you will need to graduate. Because TESC accepted some of my 2 yr college credits as Upper Level and not as many Upper Level credits to graduate. TESC ended up being the most affordable by far. (for ME that is) I only wish both TESC and Charter Oak would be a little more clear in explaining their policies.

 

Umm... has anyone noticed the ELEPHANT in the room?

I don't mean to seem inhospitable to the newbie; and no one knows better than I that we all make little mistakes around here when we're in a hurry and simply want to quickly make a drive-by posting and then get back to our work; and to those who have overlooked my errors in such cases, I am grateful. However, some errors are simply so glaring that ignoring them becomes more awkward than not, to wit:

Nasonkd, I hope you benefit from whatever you learn here; and that however it all works out for you will feel like a gift from heaven that will launch you toward degree and career success of biblical proportions. However, if you make, on a job-seeking or advanced degree-seeking cover letter, the kind of mistakes you've made above -- in tense and structure, as well as your misuse of the word "except(ed)" -- I can just about promise you that no amount of extra credit hours will keep your application from ending-up, summarily, in the proverbial "round file."

• REFERENCES:
  
  The Free Dictionary on ACCEPT
  
  The Free Dictionary on EXCEPT

Just tryin' to be irritatingly paternalistic... an aspiration which I'm confident that others here will confirm I've achieved with sang-froid.

 

grammar...

None taken....however, I did not know that this was Eng 101. Sorry, and next time I will try and do a little better job Anyway, Thanks for the help

 

Let the poor person go, smart people can make mistakes too...lol

I have known of many professional level people with advanced degrees (even doctors and politicians) who can mis-spell or even mis-pronounce some of the most common words. As well there are college educated people (with prestigious degrees) who don't even know the capital of their own state and ones who even remember their Mother's birthday...

 

While we are correcting english, it would be important to note sentences ending with prepositions should be avoided

To stay on topic....I completed AS and BS degrees with Charter Oak and found the entire experience very rewarding. Although required class category requirements and the essay may seem excessive at first glance, both are minor issues. Considering degrees through the big three could be completed entirely by examination, one essay should not be a big deal. Not many people can graduate college without writing a single essay

 

It wasn't so much ther act of writing an essay I was making a point of- My point was that the essay has to rationalize every course you took and you have to wait a while to have the essay approved to see if your choice of courses or exams is going to be accepted. At TESC and Excelsior they lay out guidelines and within those guidelines you can choose what you want. Talking to an advisor she pretty much hinted that they are quite picky about what they accept and you won't know until you get the essay back.

***In other words it's not the ESSAY itself (I earned 106 credits the traditional way, I've written plenty) BUT it's the ambiguity and uncertainty that I didn't like.***

 

I understand how the essay may seem like a difficult or unfair task. I wrote my essay in a couple of hours and it was accepted on the first pass with no issues. Charter Oak advisors are very good at helping students select appropriate courses of action in regards to credits/degree plans. Although it may not seem like it, the essay is truly a minor task that any reasonable adult should be able to nail with little effort.

 

I believe you, and I'm sure I can write it an a few hours -roughly the time it takes to do 2 DSST exams. I'm just the type who likes things clear, reasonably predictable, and in black and white. (I guess with as little ambiguity as possible)

 

Thought academic counselors were there to guide....

But the point of having academic counselors assigned upon marticulation is so that they can guide you towards having the correct courses for whatever concentration you are seeking. They are also supposed to help you with the construction of the essay. It's not like you're completely on your own.

But it also does not guarantee the essay will be accepted. It may get kicked back a few times for reasons that you could not have predicted. One of the other reasons why I ruled out COSC. I finished the main requirements....just give the degree to me dang-it !)

Sorry for starting my sentence with a conjunction. Hope no one is offended

---was posted after jtaee1920's last response and LJinPA reply---

 

Re: Re: Clep, Dantes, and Excelsior test excepted...

As would sentences in which the word "English" is not capitalized; or which don't have periods at their logical ends.

Okayokay... now I get it: Tag! You're it!