Accepted!

[amielynne]

I just got my acceptance email from COSC just now! Not that's it's hard to get accepted, but I'm still excited and anxious to get started! EXCITED!

[Saharapost]

Congratulations.Way to go :hurray:

[rebel100]

Congrats, you're on the way!

Did you ever complete your degree plan?

[OST]

I thought you were going to TESC in your first topic. What made you decide to switch to COSC?

[MomOfGirls]

Why did you choose COSC over TESC or Excelsior? I'm having trouble trying figure which one is best for me. I thought I'd decided on Excelsior...but would like to hear more from those of you with more experience. (I have approximately 50 hours of college credit from 20 years ago..all core classes). I would like a BSBA or similar. My plan is to go ahead with taking CLEP exams BEFORE enrolling in either of the colleges - getting as many credits before my "year" starts. Is this a good plan?

[amielynne]

I originally wanted to attend TESC since they allow more exams as upper level credit and you only have to take the capstone course. I ended up choosing COSC for a few reasons: they are cheaper, have a payment plan, give grades for transfer credit (I have a high GPA so that's a plus) and most exams, great KNOWLEDGEABLE staff, and it's easier to make a degree plan with their gen ed requirements. I'm planning on applying to several direct-entry MSN programs this winter and they (most of them) start once a year in the fall. In order to be accepted and start in fall 2014, I would need to graduate by June 2014. Yes, I could do this with TESC, but the problem lies in the fact that I couldn't shell out the enrollment and other fees until mid to late Feb. so I would be really pushing it in order to graduate at the time needed. Since COSC has a payment plan I will start my cornerstone course on Oct. 28th and make three payments for the fall course and then start paying for my capstone which I will take in the spring. I can also apply to the graduate programs sooner since I will be enrolled sooner. Seemed like a win/win to me. I really like that my transfer credits will be included in my GPA at COSC; in my opinion that looks more professional than no GPA (or one course GPA) and a bunch of pass/fails. I could be wrong, just my opinion for what it's worth. The more research I did about COSC, the better the vibes I got from them. Also, they were rated number 15 in the top 150 colleges that offer online programs. I live in northern KY and the University of Cincinnati (which is a really great school) is only 10 minutes away from me, but they were rated like 148 or so on that list. Anyway, I hope this sheds some light on my decision. I, of course, owe a lot to the help I have received for this broad, especially from rebel100!

[publius2k4]

Why did you choose COSC over TESC or Excelsior? I'm having trouble trying figure which one is best for me. I thought I'd decided on Excelsior...but would like to hear more from those of you with more experience. (I have approximately 50 hours of college credit from 20 years ago..all core classes). I would like a BSBA or similar. My plan is to go ahead with taking CLEP exams BEFORE enrolling in either of the colleges - getting as many credits before my "year" starts. Is this a good plan?

I chose Charter Oak because they accepted more of the credit I had than TESC or Excelsior did. But your experience may be different depending on the type of credits and how many credits you have.

[publius2k4]

I originally wanted to attend TESC since they allow more exams as upper level credit and you only have to take the capstone course. I ended up choosing COSC for a few reasons: they are cheaper, have a payment plan, give grades for transfer credit (I have a high GPA so that's a plus) and most exams, great KNOWLEDGEABLE staff, and it's easier to make a degree plan with their gen ed requirements. I'm planning on applying to several direct-entry MSN programs this winter and they (most of them) start once a year in the fall. In order to be accepted and start in fall 2014, I would need to graduate by June 2014. Yes, I could do this with TESC, but the problem lies in the fact that I couldn't shell out the enrollment and other fees until mid to late Feb. so I would be really pushing it in order to graduate at the time needed. Since COSC has a payment plan I will start my cornerstone course on Oct. 28th and make three payments for the fall course and then start paying for my capstone which I will take in the spring. I can also apply to the graduate programs sooner since I will be enrolled sooner. Seemed like a win/win to me. I really like that my transfer credits will be included in my GPA at COSC; in my opinion that looks more professional than no GPA (or one course GPA) and a bunch of pass/fails. I could be wrong, just my opinion for what it's worth. The more research I did about COSC, the better the vibes I got from them. Also, they were rated number 15 in the top 150 colleges that offer online programs. I live in northern KY and the University of Cincinnati (which is a really great school) is only 10 minutes away from me, but they were rated like 148 or so on that list. Anyway, I hope this sheds some light on my decision. I, of course, owe a lot to the help I have received for this broad, especially from rebel100!

You're on your way! I started classes June 1 and I will be graduating in December. And I REALLY love the classes I'm taking at COSC.

[sanantone]

I originally wanted to attend TESC since they allow more exams as upper level credit and you only have to take the capstone course. I ended up choosing COSC for a few reasons: they are cheaper, have a payment plan, give grades for transfer credit (I have a high GPA so that's a plus) and most exams, great KNOWLEDGEABLE staff, and it's easier to make a degree plan with their gen ed requirements. I'm planning on applying to several direct-entry MSN programs this winter and they (most of them) start once a year in the fall. In order to be accepted and start in fall 2014, I would need to graduate by June 2014. Yes, I could do this with TESC, but the problem lies in the fact that I couldn't shell out the enrollment and other fees until mid to late Feb. so I would be really pushing it in order to graduate at the time needed. Since COSC has a payment plan I will start my cornerstone course on Oct. 28th and make three payments for the fall course and then start paying for my capstone which I will take in the spring. I can also apply to the graduate programs sooner since I will be enrolled sooner. Seemed like a win/win to me. I really like that my transfer credits will be included in my GPA at COSC; in my opinion that looks more professional than no GPA (or one course GPA) and a bunch of pass/fails. I could be wrong, just my opinion for what it's worth. The more research I did about COSC, the better the vibes I got from them. Also, they were rated number 15 in the top 150 colleges that offer online programs. I live in northern KY and the University of Cincinnati (which is a really great school) is only 10 minutes away from me, but they were rated like 148 or so on that list. Anyway, I hope this sheds some light on my decision. I, of course, owe a lot to the help I have received for this broad, especially from rebel100!

I completely understand your reasoning with the payment plan. After all, all of the Big 3 are pretty much on the same level (except TESC managed to be ranked among traditional schools in nursing while EC is not). I don't understand the obsession with the online rankings. Since no one would probably even be able to tell you attended University of Cincinnati online, the thing they are going to be looking for is the main ranking. University of Cincinnati is ranked #135 among national universities. COSC isn't ranked at all. The methodology for the online rankings is bad. There is no way an employer will be more impressed with COSC than University of Cincinnati. In my field of criminal justice, University of Cincinnati would definitely win hands down since it's ranked #3 in criminology. It wouldn't matter if I attended online; University of Cincinnati would be 100X more impressive than COSC and many of the schools ranked highly on the online list.

Sorry about the rant, but this annoys me to no end.

[amielynne]

I honestly, don't care about online rankings either. I didn't go do a search on the "ranking" of schools, I found it in passing and I already had my mind made up. I added it because someone may care when making a choice. I DO, however, understand your frustration, and I love your brutal honesty (someones gotta say it ), but I think most people on this board do so much research that they probably don't care much about rankings either or know to take it with a grain of salt. Ranked or not, you are getting a super fast and pretty cheap degree with any of the big 3. Honestly, I don't think you could do wrong with any of them. Just all a matter of goals, time frame, and money.

Yes, University of Cincinnati would probably look better to employers IF I were applying for jobs now, but if I attend there for graduate school I'm pretty sure employers couldn't care less about were I got my undergrad degree. As far as the schools caring, I have been in contact with ALL of the schools and they have no problem with me getting my degree through any of the big 3, in fact, they all even encouraged taking the prerequisites online and gave me lists of approved distance learning courses. That includes science with labs, which is practically unheard of. I took all of my science classes and labs locally and the traditional way, but I know there has been great debut over the topic and this is a great find. I guess, I should have added that I also chose COSC because they offer Organizational Leadership/Health care administration/studies (I'm doing the individualized studies) and two of the programs that I will be applying to end with the Clinical Nurse Leader credentials and I figured this is a good undergrad degree. I also have been spending a ton of time at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center (my dad has throat cancer) and I have spent many hours talking to the nurses, doctors, and PA's, I told them about all of my options and my frustration of not knowing which way to go and they all agreed that this was the way to go. So here I am! I would be happy to post the lists of classes that the schools approved if anyone is interested.
So anyway, there is part two of my ramble......