Which of the big three...

I am a lurker who has posted from time to time. I am currently in the Ph.D. program at Fielding. As an update, I am enjoying the school very much. I am going to the Fielding "National Summer Session" Washington DC in a couple weeks to take a Rorschach training seminar and MMPI-2 seminar and an seminar on consciousness. I will aslo be doing other sundry things.

Anyway! After that I will be visiting a friend in Boone NC on my way back to Tennessee where I live. I am trying to convince him to upgrade his credentials.and eventually get a MA in counseling.

He does not have a BA but works in a halfway house. He has great counseling skills but will always be very limited by lack of a degree. He has attended a number of colleges and has certainly acquired enough credit hours for a BA. He ahs bounced around alot due to his wife's job and has not stayed in one place long enough to finish his degree program. However, when he approached the local state university (ASU)in Boone NC about getting a BA in psychology they told him he's have to put in a year of additional undergrad work at their institution.

It seems to me that my friend would be perfect for one of the "big three" to evaluate all his credit hours, consolidate them on one transcript and issue him a degree with relatively little extra work on his part. However, despite reading this forum from time to time I am a bit fuzzy on the various pros and cons. Does he sound like an appropriate candidate for the "big three" Which of the "big three" would be the best for him. From the bits and pieces I have read, Excelsior, Charter Oak and TESC all seem about equivallent. Any suggestions?

Chris

 

Chris,

It's hard to say exactly where he stands, but at a glance, if he is looking at getting a BA in Psychology he will need sufficient upper level credit to fulfil the major - so it's not just about the # of credits but also how they are allocated.

If it turns out that he's short some upper-level credit I'd say that the quickest and cheapest method would be to pursue the Psychology GRE and based upon his score enroll in either Excelsior or COSC. I don't believe that TESC gives credit for any GRE.

There would still be some other exams/courses required to meet each institution's gen ed requirement (like written english, information literacy, etc.) but this wouldn't take too long. I'd guess that the total cost would be around the $2500-3000 range if you include enrollment, graduation, the GRE, some other exams and necessary study materials.

If the GRE doesn't fit then there are upper-level exams that he could take but as far as per-credit costs go nothing beats the GRE - if he scores above the 80th percentile Excelsior will give him 30 credits, or if he scores above the 40th percentile COSC will give him 18 credits (hence my recommendation that he take the GRE first before enrolling).

Your friend sounds like he'd be a good candidate for a "consolidator" college like Excelsior or COSC.

Cheers,
Mark

 

ASU, UNC-A, and Western Carolina (local state U's near your friend) will each require him to complete 30 hours on their campus in order to award a degree. This is generally standard practice.

Even if your friend has 120 semester hours of credit, he'll have to have them in the right sequence of courses for those three as well.

Of the Big Three, Excelsior will probably be cheapest if he does in fact have the requirements for a BA/BSc already met.

In simplest terms -- a BA/BSc from Excelsior is going to require 120 hours with at least 30 hours at upper level (300/400). Written English met through either Eng 101 at an RA or some few other options that don't include CLEP. Distribution of credit such that he has about 9-12 hours in each of the arts and sciences (Humanities, Natural Science/Math, and Social Science History). If many of his hours are in what Excelsior terms "applied professional" (counseling is, psych is not) then the Bachelor of Science is the way to go.

He'll also need to take the Excelsior course in information literacy (about $250) since there are few other options for meeting that requirement.

If he does indeed have all of the requirements met he can expect the Excelsior option to cost him between $1000 and $2000.

If he doesn't have the requirements complete, he could enroll at ASU as a "visiting student" to take classes there.

Also! He could enroll at ASU as a transfer student letting them believe that he is going to complete the 30 hours on campus there. Then he could use his status at ASU for federal financial aid, scholarships, and student loans... He might even prefer to complete two undergrads then -- one at ASU and one at a Big Three...

 

I looked into the three and went with COSC. The customer service was great and I liked what they had to offer. The best advice I coulod give is - call each school, ask a lot of questions, when you learn something new call the schools again and ask more questions.

That is what I did and COSC was the winner and the price was only about $1,000.

Good luck-

 

Out of the big three COSC is probably the only one that will actually be helpful prior to enrollment, due to their low student population.

Excelsior was very helpful after enrollment.

Cheers,
Mark

 

It is important to mention that all Charter Oak's bachelor degrees are in General Studies with concentrations. If one needs a specific degree for a specific purpose this might create a problem.

 

If he doesn't have the undergrad work in upper division Psychology classes then he has a variety of options...
If he's a good test taker he can take the GRE Psychology. If he passes in the 80th percentile he'll get a full 30 s.h. credit if he goes to Excelsior.
COSC gives 18 units but only 3 upper division for the GRE. However, you only have to pass at the 45th percentile.
TESC doesn't give credit for the GRE
but it sounds to me like TESC would be his best bet, because it is the only one of the 3 that gives Life Experience Credit (Called portfolio assesment)
Also, while Exclesior is the least expensive if you have cash on hand, TESC and COSC are both Title IV schools which means he may be eligible for financial aid.
I second what the others have said in that the schools are not all that helpful when you aren't enrolled. You really need to do some research on their sites, send email's with specific questions, find out the requirements, see where your friends credits fit and then make the best decision from there. HTH

 

This is not true. I explained this one time before.
I even posted an image of my transcript. I do not understand why people make this assumption when they simply do not know!

Sorry-

 

The COSC website states this: "The concentration is not called a major because the "major" is General Studies."

http://www.cosc.edu/advising/cpsRequirements.cfm

 

This is probably because it is what they are told by COSC at http://www.cosc.edu/advising/cpsRequirements.cfm

and

Whether this will or will not create a problem when completing a grad application, I can't say.

It is probably the source of the assumption that the BA/BS from COSC is a BA/BS in General Studies and that the concentration is not the major.

Just my observation for what it's worth...

 

Thanks for all the input guys! Now all I ahve to do is convince my friend to go for it.

Warmly

Chris

 

My transcript states:


Bachelor of Science - Individualized Studies not General Studies.

 

One more thing - the diploma states:
"Bachelor of Science" only

 

The easy 3

Some one called them not the big 3 but the easy 3.
I'm not sure how to digest that, is this an insult.

I always recomended to my coworkers one of the big 3 and UNISA.

What is their image today?

???



Learner

 

Re: The easy 3

I would not call them easy.

 

My point was that if one needed a specific major to meet a narrowly defined purpose then there might be a problem. For example, a job requirement might clearly state a particular major. The COSC site states that its majors are all in general studies and that it instead offers concentrations. Regardless of what the transcripts state, the website explains this clearly. For most people and most situations this will not cause a problem. For some others it might. Each of the Big Three could be the best option depending on one's circumstances.