Empire State College....check in here!

Discussion in 'General Distance Learning Discussions' started by hpNYR, Dec 22, 2010.

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  1. hpNYR

    hpNYR New Member

    I just applied to ESC and I must say I am very excited to get going in the March semester! I have taken many courses in LIU and John Jay. My major will be Political Science....I'm wondering if I should choose the interdisciplinary studies and fill in the courses b/c im coming in w/ a lot of credits, or should I choose social theory, structure, and change w a concentration in poli sci? How is the credit evaluation for the school?

    How do people like the school?

    Thanks!
     
  2. hpNYR

    hpNYR New Member

    Sorry for the duplicate Mods. I just realized posts from new members are sorta reviewed. Again, apologies.
     
  3. airtorn

    airtorn Moderator

    No problem - It is done to catch spam and works well for that purpose.
     
  4. Maniac Craniac

    Maniac Craniac Moderator Staff Member

    Well, you are certainly making the fiscally responsible choice by not going to LIU any more! Just curious, if you took many courses from those two schools, are you unable to complete a degree from either?

    The only "bad" thing I have ever heard about Empire State College is that some people think that their courses are remarkably more difficult than is typical for undergraduate work. Although, I would personally consider that to be a good thing, and they do make up for it somewhat by making most of their courses worth 4 semester credits rather than the typical 3. One really nice thing about them is that, up to their residency requirement (that is, the amount of credits you must take from ESC, whether in person or online), there is no restriction on how many nontraditional credits you can use toward a degree. You can CLEP, ECE, DSST, GRE, ACE and PLA your way through most of your degree!

    There are a few members who have degrees from ESC, so if you sit tight, I'm sure one of them can give you the info you are looking for.

    Welcome to DegreeInfo!
     
  5. hpNYR

    hpNYR New Member

    Thanks for the response!

    At LIU I got in a few classes that should follow thru and fill in for some of the classes needed for the Major. At John Jay you have to go through the math classes and other general education requirements before you can start taking the meaty classes for your major. So, I have taken a hybrid thus far from both schools but not enough to get a degree.
     
  6. hpNYR

    hpNYR New Member

    Thanks for all the responses! Hopefully more ppl chime in!
     
  7. hpNYR

    hpNYR New Member

    Still wondering if any esc student can answer my questions in the original post...

    Thanks!
     
  8. Randell1234

    Randell1234 Moderator

    While I have not attended, I know there is a few that have on this Board. I do not recall hearing anything bad...at all...about the school.
     
  9. diplox

    diplox New Member

    I can't really comment on your choice of either interdisciplinary studies or social theory[...], as I'm just starting at Empire myself in January. You should probably consult with your mentor on that subject, as I think they're in the best position to answer any questions you might have. Mine already provided a ton of valuable advice. That being said, I'm not sure the choice will have much of an impact on your ability to use your credits, as "concentrations" tend to be less rigorous than majors. An interdisciplinary studies major might let you apply more of your credits as being part of your "concentration," but ultimately you need to be able to justify that in your rationale essay. How many credits are we talking about anyway?
     
  10. JLV

    JLV Active Member

    Does anyone know if the courses at this school are assessed by proctored examinations?
     
  11. diplox

    diplox New Member

    I've only just started classes last week, but I can tell you already they lean more heavily towards paper writing than exams. What exams they have are done entirely online, no proctoring required. Which afaik is how all the SUNY schools handle online classes.
     
  12. TechGolfer

    TechGolfer New Member

    Hello - I am currently attending ESC. It has been a positive experience for me, but I believe the experience varies greatly with the professors. I would do the research on places like ratemyprofessor.com before picking classes. From what I've seen though, with blind surveys and such, the school is VERY interested and on top of feedback for instructors.

    On the workload, they require a lot of writing...a lot...so hopefully that works for you. It does for me. I took 4 classes my first semester, but had to drop back to 3 over the second as it was over the summer accelerated schedule and it was just too much with a full time job and family. I'm in my last semester now.

    I have not had a single procotered class, although someone on this board said an accounting class they took required one. I have not seen a single one in any class I've looked at in the catalog though, so they must be rare.

    As for what program/degree, I would definitely run it by your assigned mentor as they will have a great understanding of what will fit best based on your requirements. You can be honest with them with something like "whatever I am closest to", but you will have to write an essay "proving" your degree plan and it will need to be something serious and reasoning will have to be justified.

    I would study the degree requirements documents closely to make sure you fit your classes to the possible degree strategies. You will need to meet NYS gen' ed requirements (which have lessened a bit in the last year actually), as well as liberal arts and concentration requirements. I would start with the Gen Ed requirements first, as you'll need these covered no matter what. Then I would look at liberal arts credits - the quantity you need of these depends on the degree type (BA, BS, BPS). This will guide you toward what degree type you may want to target.

    On the Interdisciplinary type, this one, by definition, just means you want to target learning that doesn't fall cleanly into one of the already defined degree types (or falls into 2 or more). This one certainly seems the most "customizable", but you'll need to pick a "focus" for the degree, like some industry target or problem. I don't know enough to say if Poly-Sci is enough to warrant this degree type. I think traditional poly-sci falls into the Social Theory degree section normally.

    As for credit evaluation, they will take anything from regionally accredited schools with a 'c' and above pretty liberally. They also allow a breadth of alternative credit options. You should talk to your mentor to see if you might get experience credits. They will talk through your past (like a resume) to see what you might fit.

    Good luck - and let me know if you have any other questions I can help with.

    TG
     
  13. uaflyer

    uaflyer New Member

    Fully Online courses are substantially more difficult than classroom for many reasons. I am sure the wash-out rate is much higher as well. It is however the future of all post-secondary education. Blended programs are much more common, but I have not had a classroom course in years without some part online.
     

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