I did some reading of past posts, but a lot of them are from 2004 or earlier, so they are 5+ years old now! Is it still true that the size of COSC is way smaller than Excelsior? Does this mean most DLers choose TESC or Excelsior over COSC? I read they don't calculate a GPA, but do calculate QPA and show it on the transcript now, is that correct? I know they didn't use to show it. Would this QPA not be surprising or bad to grad schools? Some people hate how you have to write an essay to get your 'concentration' approved. That's only if I want a "custom" concentration, right? Otherwise I can skip that "difficult" process by picking a concentration from their two lists on this page, right? http://www.charteroak.edu/Prospective/Programs/concentrations.cfm Rarely do I see anything bad about COSC except that about those essays I just mentioned or the fact that they don't have majors. Before this was a deal breaker to me, but now I am thinking I should accept having a degree with a concentration. I already took the Excelsior Information Literacy course. COSC will give me credit won't they, so I don't have to take the COSC Information Literacy course? Is it still true that COSC won't say the cutoffs for A and B letter grades for the graded DANTES exams? Is it still true they don't give letter grades for ECE? If I got an A- in a course at another college, the COSC transcript would show "A-" (not A or something else)? I wish it could be counted as a 4.0, lol, I forget but maybe Excelsior counts it as an A/4.0? Is there anything else bad or especially good about COSC transcripts? One thing that I like is that (I believe, essentially) Excelsior would omit from the transcript anything I wanted omitted.
Hm, just re-read that COSC (and TESC) charge to transcribe exams... that'll add up a lot. Forgot about that factor
Yes, COSC is a lot smaller than Excelsior and Thomas Edison. For some people, that's a plus. I know it was for me. Yes, they show quality points on the transcript. Why would that look bad to grad schools? The CPS is required for ALL degrees. You list the classes or tests you plan on taking to complete your degree. It's simple to complete. From COSC- "The CPS is comprised of three parts: 1) Your resume: If you have not developed a resume in a while, there are web sites that will provide some guidance. 2) Concentration Plan of Study Form: list the courses, exams and credits that you anticipate including in your concentration. 3) Concentration Rationale: please provide the background information requested, using complete sentences and proper grammar and punctuation. This is your opportunity to demonstrate that you have college level writing skills. Your responses to the second question in the rationale section should be between 100 and 300 words. " COSC has concentrations instead of degrees but it's basically the same thing. COSC accepted the Information Literacy course I took at Penn Foster so they would probably accept the one from Excelsior. The CLEPS and DSST I took over the summer don't show as a letter grade on my Charter Oak transcript. They just have P for pass. As far as I know , they still do it that way. Grades from the school I attended before COSC transfered in exactly the way they were listed on that schools transcript. You didn't ask but Charter Oak accepted the College Algebra credits I earned through ALEKS. I thought I would mention that in case you haven't completed any math requirements. I am curious as to why you took the Information Literacy course at Excelsior instead of Penn Foster.
Thanks. I was enrolled in Excelsior at the time, and didn't know I could take it at Penn Foster. Excelsior seems to give a bunch more letter grades, still not many, but in general, I want as many letter graded exams as possible.
COSC does NOT charge to transcribe exams. Not for enrolled students. Personally, I've been very happy with Charter Oak.
I keep reading that they have great phone support. I was wondering if anyone has had trouble with COSC email support? I haven't tried them yet, but I'm disappointed when I ask another school some questions and they just want me to call. But I know I should just be glad to be able to reach a person by phone, lol.
Charter Oak State College also requires some kind of capstone course that you must take in order to graduate. I'm not sure if that was Information Literacy related, but it seems like it's a different type of course altogether. Please let us know if this is the case. Is the capstone course requirement an Information Literacy type of course? If so, if you have taken a previous Information Literacy course would this suffice? Or, does anyone know if it isn't an Information Literacy course, exactly what it is comprised of?
Hmm, you're right, I just looked. They started requiring a 3 credit capstone course. And it's the one and only thing you need to take at Charter Oak and can't transfer a credit for it says.
Yes, after July 1, 2009, Charter Oak State College made it mandatory that each and every student who enrolls after this date needs to take a capstone course from Charter Oak State College in order to graduate with a degree. I was wondering if anyone knows what type of course this consists of? And, the interesting part would be to know how much it would cost for the course?
The cost is probably based on their usual course costs, I'd guess. Charter Oak Distance Learning Courses Registration per semester* $45 Video and online course tuition Connecticut resident per credit $195 Nonresident per credit $265
I'm guessing that they replaced that weird required essay with this capstone. I hope so. It said that the essay had to be submitted at least 4 months before you wanted to graduate. The essay was about what you learned from all your credits, etc.
The capstone course is designed for the student to synthesize your knowledge into a structure which is determined by your advisor. When COSC announced the capstone course, if you read between the lines, the capstone was probably "suggested" to them by their accrediting agency. There is a BIG push for program outcomes assessment in academia, i.e. what does a graduate of XYZ know and how can you prove it? With that COSC designed the capstone course to demonstrate this. I love COSC's customer service. My daughter plans to graduate with an AA from COSC this summer, before she goes away to college. Shawn
Charter Oak is a good choice... I graduated with a BA from Charter Oak (Psych. concentration) in 2006, so my experience shouldn't be too out of date. I had previously done my AA at TESC, and found their customer service at the time to be so-so... kind of DMV-ish, if that makes sense. The program was OK, though. I had also called and spoken with Excelsior when I was looking at BA options. At the time, I had found the people I was speaking with to be pretty obnoxious. Their website was a tad difficult then, too. That was several years ago, however, and the same people could very well have long since moved on, and their website become less arcane. With Charter Oak, I always received very quick responses to email, and they were happy to discuss my program with me at length on the phone. And yes, I'm guessing that the "capstone course" which has been mentioned here is a replacement for what used to be called the "academic autobiography." I suppose they'll manage to squeeze a few extra $ out of students for that, but Charter Oak still has an excellent program. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to others. Peace, Matt
