Big 3

Discussion in 'General Distance Learning Discussions' started by plcscott, Jun 22, 2003.

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  1. plcscott

    plcscott New Member

    Questions about the big 3 that were kind of brought up in a COSC thread.

    When you take a clep, dante, or other test for credit for a class do you just get a pass fail grade or credit or what???

    Are you graded at all, and do you have a GPA???

    If you get credit at these schools for a course can you tranfer the course without problems???

    Most schools I have looked at require transfer credits or graduate admissions to be C or above. :confused:
     
  2. c.novick

    c.novick New Member

    Hi plcscott,

    I have taken a couple of dante exams. You get a numeric score that will equal pass/fail but no letter grade. It comes through as {cr} on your transcript.

    Courses transfer to TESC, but you pay a transfer fee.

    Grades C and better will be accepted.

    I am sure other members can give more detailed info, but I hope this helps.

    Peace
     
  3. wfready

    wfready New Member

    Excelsior, in fact, will give you a letter grade for certain CLEP's and DSST's. Here is the link for the CLEPs:

    http://www.excelsior.edu/exams/xms_clcs.htm

    I can't find the grades for Dantes..

    Hope this helps,
    Bill
     
  4. MarkIsrael@aol.com

    [email protected] New Member

    Some of the credits earned at the Big 3, e.g. GRE-based credits, are almost impossible to transfer to undergraduate programs at other schools.

    That does not affect acceptance of completed Big 3 degrees for graduate programs, though.
     
  5. MarkIsrael@aol.com

    [email protected] New Member

    A grade of "P" (= "Pass") is equivalent to a grade of C or above, and most schools will accept it as such.

    GPA is calculated from letter grades only. So if you took one letter-grade course and got an "A", and got "P" in 39 other courses, then technically you have graduated with a GPA of 4.0. I'm sure it would raise eyebrows, though.
     
  6. I can only speak to TESC's practice as of last year, but: CLEP and DANTES exams are transcripted as credit only, as are Portfolio Assessment submissions. ECEs are transcripted with Excelsior's recommended letter grade. GRE Subject Exams aren't accepted for credit at all.
    Yes.. and no. At TESC, letter grades from other institutions transfer to TESC; graded exams (ECE, TECEP etc.) and online courses carry grades, and TESC requires a minimum GPA to graduate. While this GPA is shown on updates to your "program plan," it's not annotated on your transcript. The grad schools I applied to simply calculated it on their own.

    I've never tried, but they're courses from a regionally accredited institution. Logically, you shouldn't have great difficulty-- but then, I had trouble transferring a course from a fairly large, public university to one of the Ivys on the grounds that it was "dated." The course? A survey class in Philosophy. Go figure.

    I transferred in a single "D" course to TESC (and in hindsight, wish that I had asked for it to be excluded) but generally you're right. For "ungraded" courses (credit/no credit) most schools seem to accept the courses in transfer as long as the equivalent of a "C" were required for credit.

    I think graduate admission under 3.0 is pretty unusual absent compelling factors, the biggest being the passage of time & some show of improvement in the last undergraduate years. I was saved by my "last 60 credits" GPA.
     
  7. plcscott

    plcscott New Member

    Did any of you, or any others that went on for a masters have to take any additional courses to satisfy admissions at the school you went for your masters at?
     
  8. Hille

    Hille Active Member

    Hello, My daughter transferred several (D) grades to TESC from early party years. These had a brutal effect on her GPA. At that time I was unaware she could TECEP or CLEP those same courses and have the grade expunged. This is a definite plus for the people who made some academic errors in the early years. Hille
     
  9. plcscott

    plcscott New Member

    TECEP?

    Excuse my ignorance still learning here what does this mean?
     
  10. c.novick

    c.novick New Member

    TECEP

    Hi plcscott;

    TECEP stands for Thomas Edison College Examination Program.

    It is TESC's own examination program. It is similar to the DANTES/CLEP style of examination.

    The exams are given nationally and may be used at other institutions. (Can you tell I was a student at TESC for awhile?)

    Hope this helps a bit.

    :)
     
  11. plcscott

    plcscott New Member

    Michael:

    Thanks for the info.. What was your experience like at TESC, and did you transfer those credits earned. I truly would like to know more about these schools in case I want to do things in the future.
     
  12. c.novick

    c.novick New Member

    Plcscott:

    TESC was a good experience. They accepted credits from RA schools. You pay for it though. There was a yearly technolgy fee.
    I am sure you would have a great portfolio for assessment.

    They are located in N.J. (northern country). You can take your exams in a local college, I took mine in a public library.

    I don't feel you would be unhappy there.
     
  13. plcscott

    plcscott New Member

    I will check into them. I am still not sure that overall one of these will really serve my greater good. I am not sure I will be much better off, but I appreciate all the advice. I have learned a lot from some of these replies, and will continue to dig into finding out about these schools.

    Thanks,

    Scott
     
  14. Rich Douglas

    Rich Douglas Well-Known Member

    It can. In applying to SDSU's MBA program, they ignored all of my testing credit (almost my entire degree). Even though I had a degree in business (from a non-AACSB school), they offered to waive only 1 of 10 prerequisite courses. That would mean staying an extra year (full-time) just to get into the main MBA curriculum. Had my credits come from coursework, I would have been much farther along.
     
  15. plcscott

    plcscott New Member

    Rich:

    Did you think this is generally the case? Will most schools throw these courses out because they are testing credit?
     
  16. AV8R

    AV8R Active Member

    I certainly don't think so. Most of the larger schools will allow you to complete your degree using a liberal amount of test credit. For example, I was looking into a business degree via Old Dominion University in Virginia (which is AACSB). ODU will allow you to use up to 60 credit hours of CLEP/DANTES towards your degree.

    The situation with SDSU seems to be a bit extraordinary to me. I believe that Rich mentioned in another thread that he finished his MBA through another school and ended up teaching at SDSU (pure poetic justice, I love it!).

    Cy
     
  17. Rich Douglas

    Rich Douglas Well-Known Member

    As Cyrus points out, it is one thing to use testing credit at a school--it will be subject to their transfer requirements and limits. I was applying to grad school and asking for the prerequiste courses to be waived. That's when they ignored my credit by testing. Of course, I just took their answer and didn't question it. (I was 21 at the time.) I'd fight it today.

    I don't think this sort of thing has been measured across a spectrum of schools, however.
     
  18. Myoptimism

    Myoptimism New Member

    Some of the mba programs (aacsb) I have been looking at offer CLEP exams as a method to fulfill prerequisites. Auburn is one example.

    Tony
     

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