Excelsior or Charter Oak?

Hi Guys,

I know there have been countless threads on this forum regarding Excelsior and Charter Oak, sorry.

My wife has earned approximately 80 hours of RA work and desires to finish her degree (no specific field, perhaps liberal arts). She's looking into the possibility of earning the last 45 hours or so, or at las much as possible, through CLEP exams. The costs between Excelsior and COSC are nearly even as long as the degree completion is done within a year. So here is the question: Aside from a preference for school names (I hate Excelsior), is there a reason to choose one above the other (better service, better administrative processing, better reputaion, etc.)?

Thanks.

Pug

 

I'd go with Excelsior College they gave me great service and I finished my degree with them in no time. The only problem I had with them was the schools name. I remember on one job interview I had were the guy inertviewing me read the schools name out aloud and then made this sour looking face. I knew I was not getting that job! Anyway, I did get two good paying jobs using my degree from Excelsior College. So, if you can ignore rude people who'll frown up at the name go for it. I mean a degree is a degree no matter the name of the college. I know of stranger B&M college names then Excelsior College!

 

I went with COSC. They accepted technology credits that were old then 10 years (Ohms Law never changed). I thought the customer service was great and I liked the name.

I have never been questioned about my degree wheather an RA question or a name question.

What ever school you go with, they are both solid RA schools. COSC will soon be offering a Masters degree also.

 

Interesting. Thank you. Anyone else with COSC or Excelsior experience?

Pug

 

Randell1234,

Can you provide any more info on this COSC Masters Degree?

Excelsior now has an MBA but for some reason it is not on their web site.

Thanks.

 

I recieved the COSC newslertter and it says there will be MS in Organizational Effectiveness. 36 credits and you transfer 6 and test out of 9 through assesments. Scheduled to start in 2006.

That is all I know.

 

I have no complaints about Excelsior's service, at least after I enrolled. The business advisors were helpful; I communicated solely via e-mail.

As far as the name thing - it is pretty much meaningless. If it's not Harvard or another immediately recognizable school, it doesn't really matter. In my case, since I live in New York State, Excelsior's location in Albany was preferable to COSC or TESC.

Cheers,
Mark

 

I went with COSC because of the pre-enrollment customer service. Excelsior would never give me a straight answer on questions concerning credit transfers. COSC was fast, correct and always responsive. I just graduated after CLEPing out of my last 39 credits.

 

Congratulations! If you don't mind me asking, which CLEPS did you take? Did you have any prior knowledge in the CLEP areas or did you just jump in and take your chances?

 

I jumped in on:
Analyzing and Intr Literature
Info Systems

I couldn't see how you could study for Analyzing, either you understand lit or not. I had worked in the computer field for twenty years so that was an easy one, though it was more business oriented than I thought it would be.

On the rest, I have been interested in history all my life and read constantly.

I studied for, (in order of how much):
American Literature
American Govt
Soc Sci and History
Humanities
West Civil I
History of US II

I used the CLEP exam book, as well as books like "fill in the blank" for Dummies and The Complete Idiot's Guide to "fill in the blank". Also Barron's EZ 101 Keys for the Literature, History and Govt.

Good luck on your tests.

Deb

 

Excelsior has good customer service...nice helpful advisors that call back when they say they will. The name's no biggie for me. I couldn't care less if the name was Hoolie Goolie College. RA is RA. You qualify for the interview.

Thier BSLS degree requirements were more flexible than COSC. AND! COSC makes you write some kind of essay about your degree plan. Sounds like a good way to waste a month or two of your 1 year enrollment fee...hmmmm

 

I chose Excelsior for those reasons and the fact that all COSC majors are in general studies with concentrations.

 

Took me about 4 hours, had it approved the day after I emailed it. YMMV, of course.

 

I CHOSE COSC

I had the same experience as DEB. I couldn't get a straight answer from EXCELSIOR to save my life.

COSC on the other hand was a breeze they bent over backwards to make sure I knew what my options were BEFORE I matriculated, they made everything easy.

I've heard many stories about difficulty with the essay. I just read the instructions, slept on it, sat down at the keyboard pounded it out in about three hours ran the spell check created a .pdf and emailed it. I got an approval letter in about two weeks, took two CLEPs and one extension course from LSU independant study and graduated.

Time elapsed, April 1 2004 through July 31, 2004.

I can't say enough good stuff about COSC!

God Bless and good luck no matter what choice you make for yourself. When you're done, you will feel the accomplishment every day! I'm STILL basking in the afterglow.

 

Excelsior

I originally (2000) went with Thomas Edison for my first BS, which I finally just earned 5 months ago. Now that I am actually looking for a "profession" to be part of, I have decided to go with Excelsior for a 2nd. BS in Accounting (CPA Track).

I have found Excelsior to be fairly straightforward and responsive (much more so than TESC ever was). They are RA, completely DL, within my price range, and all that good stuff, just like COSC and TESC.

What swung it for me for the 2nd. BS was the fact that they confer a degree with a major, and they have a directly qualifying (in New York) CPA track for the accounting degree. It just so happens that my state (Colorado) has identical education requirements as New York (and many other states, actually).

Having a major versus the COSC "General Studies" did it for me. However, I'll probably end up with a 3rd. BS/BA from COSC because I like some of their offerings and will be in school for the rest of my life. Plus, it'd be cool to say I have one degree from each of the Big 3. I'm a dork like that.

My advice would be to seriously examine the difference that the degree designation would make for your employment. I *must* have an "Accounting" major to be a CPA -- there is no option.

If the major doesn't matter, or if a concentration designation is sufficient, I'd say go with COSC. They're cheaper, and many, many people on here have said they are just outright friendlier and easier to deal with.

-Jassen

 

And you people thought Excelsior was bad?

I happen to agree with the comment about Excelsior. In my searching I envisioned myself telling my friends in a bar if they asked where I went to college that I went to "Excelsior College". It just sounded awful (and not to mention too many smiling faces in graduation hats on the brochure). tacky-tacky-tacky...

I eventually chose TESC and finished faster and cheaper than I would have at Exscelsior. Excelsior requires far more Upper Level credits and TESC has more of a selection of majors. (Charter Oak has only one major-general studies) Excelsior also has great customer service.

***I wouldn't write off Thonas Edison either. My only gripe is that their student services can REALLY "cop-a-tude" at times, reminding me of the customer service at an inner-city Greyhound bus station or New York's port authority. (Luckily, having lived in the Northeast 100% of my life I'm very used to East Coast "attitude" and brashness.) You do need to keep an eye on the paperwork BUT in every other way my experience with them has been great and VERY worth-while in the long run!!! There are also quite a few very helpful people there! I also think it helps to have STATE in the schools name.

*NOW on a funny note- If you think Excelsior's a bad name... I know Transylvania U has been discussed on here but here's another:
"College Misericordia" in Dallas, PA. NOT College OF Misericordia but just "College Misericordia". -A well respected, selective, but small RA Catholic college in Northeast PA. Now go to Arizona and tell people you went there and see if they heard of it. It's Latin for "Heart of Jesus"- but also called "College for Miserable Accordian Players".

*Also the prestigious Peabody Institute where, just like several other schools inc. U of New Hampshire, YOU CAN GET YOUR BM Degree (Bachelor of Music) NOT BMus, but just BM! Some schools call their Management degrees BM too.
NOW imagine putting on a resume that you "got your BM at Peabody".


ANYWAY- here are my thoughts:
*Excelsior: if you want less grey hair, clear degree requirements and great advisors (plus an OK selection of majors).
*Charter Oak: if you want to deal with nice people, more individualized attention, and "state" in your school's name...
*Thomas Edison: If you want to finish FAST, have maximum flexibility, great programs, (decent courses, teachers, and proctors from what I HEAR), the best selection of majors, (those few extra grey hairs from student services can always be covered up later on) Chances are you won't have any problems anyway.
Plus, it's a public STATE college also which MAY illicit more credibility. The enrollment $ may be more, but you MAY not need as many courses to finish and it could very well be less $$$ in the long run.

Good Luck

 

Just curious...some of you have mentioned Excelsior confers a degree with a major. I though TESC did the same? For example "Bachelor of Arts in Journalism" or something along those lines. Am I mistaken?

 

Better experiences than me....

I certainly would recommend excelsior. But, I will say this: the people who posted that said that they had all their questions answered in a timely manner.....I guess we went to two seperate Excelsior colleges. I mean, I was able to get all my questions answered, but I would say that there was a good 30% of e-mails, phone calls, and requests that went unreturned or unanswered. Some transcript-related requests required re-work.

Now keep in mind that Excelsior has some 20,000 enrollees, so at times you will get lost in the mix. But I don't think that some of the administrative errors that were made would have been different from any other school.

Stay on top of your game (10 steps ahead at all times), and you should be fine. Procrastinators will not do well in a DL program.

 

Been discussed before, I know, but to summarize:

Does it make a big difference if your degree is a Major (Excelsior) versus a General studies with a Concentration (COSC)?

 

I think it would depend on how you intend to use the degree. Does your employer/future employeer require a specific major of study - or is a general degree with a concentration sufficient?

Pug