Best route for my goals; TESC or COSC

[amielynne]

Hello everyone,

Thanks to everyone who has answered my questions so far. I have been doing some research and I can't decide which route to go. Here is my dilemma; I have around 72 credits so far, mostly from a cc and I am wanting to get a BA or BS in order to be able to apply and hopefully get accepted into a graduate, direct entry nursing program. I am in the Cincinnati area and there are three programs that I am wanting to apply to. I have all of my pre-reqs done except for Microbiology. My original plan was to apply to TESC this month work on the rest of my tests and classes for a BA in Social Science and then in February enroll (also apply to the graduate programs), take my capstone course and graduate. The problem is, I won't have the money to enroll at TESC until February and I won't be able to start my capstone course until March so I'm not sure if I can apply for the June graduation and I need to graduate by June at the latest. All three programs start in August so if I wanted to start next fall, I would have to graduate by June. All of the programs will let me apply while I'm finishing my bachelors and will grant provisional admission. I started researching COSC more and I was wondering if perhaps that would be a better fit. Since they have a payment plan it would allow me to break up the cost and I woudln't have to wait until February to apply. I could apply now and once accepted I could start taking the cornerstone course (next one starts Oct 28th) and work on testing and courses needed and then take my capstone in the spring so I could graduate in May. I know that I will need more UL credits at COSC overall, but that isn't too much of a concern. Since I would already be enrolled, it seems likes I would have a better chance of applying earlier and getting accepted to a graduate program. I'm not sure what I would study at COSC; possibly psychology, but the organizational leadership/healthcare administration sounds pretty good too. Two of the MSN programs I will apply to end in a Clinical Nurse Leader MSN concentration, so this degree may give me a leg up in those programs. So really my plan of study isn't that big a deal overall, I'm just trying to figure out the best route that will get enrolled quickest so I can apply to graduate school early, and a plan that will (barring no complications and set backs) allow me to graduate by my June 2014 deadline. I know I have a tough year ahead of me and I'm prepared to give it my all and reach my goals! Any and all feedback would be fantastic. I know you guys are pros and may come up with ideas or feedback that I didn't consider. Thanks for listening to my rant and thanks for all the help!

[rebel100]

Can you give us a list of your credits? Be helpful....

[rebel100]

Hoping to test out....or are you up for some classes to finish?

Have you completed the FAFSA for financial aid?

[amielynne]

Thanks for the reply; I would like to test out of as much as I can, but I'm up for taking some classes online as well. I'm still getting financial aid at my CC to pay for my fall classes so I won't be using aid to pay for my bachelors degree. It's not that I can't pay out of pocket, I just can't drop the whole $4,000-6,000 right at once and that is the bad thing about TESC. I could pay a $2,000-3,000 this fall and winter for tests and classes, but I couldn't pay the enrollment for TESC until February and that doesn't leave much time for the capstone and graduation by June. I thought since COSC has a payment plan, maybe that would be a better option for me. Thanks again!


Community College Credits: (66.90 Credits)

BIO 137: Human Anatomy & Physiology I with Lab (4 c)
BIO 139:Human Anatomy & Physiology II with Lab (4 c)
CHE 130: Intro Gen & Biological Chem (4 c)
CHE 140: Introductory General Chemistry (3 c) *In progress
CHE 145: Intro General Chemistry Lab (1 c) *In progress
CIT 105: Introduction to Computers (3 c)
CLA 131: Med Term from Greek & Latin (3 c) *In progress
CPR 100: CPR Healthcare Professionals (1 c)
COM 101: Intro to Communications (3 c)
ENG 101: Writing I (3 c)
ENG 102: Writing II (3 c) *In progress
MAT 085: Intermediate Algebra (3 c) *Dev. level at CC, may not transfer?
MAT 1201: Intermediate Factoring (0.30 c)
MAT 1202: Rational Expressions (0.30 c)
MAT 1203: Graphs and Functions (0.30 c)
MAT 150: College Algebra (3 c)
NAA 100: Nursing Assistant Skills I (3 c)
NFS 101: Human Nutrition & Wellness (3 c)
PHI 110: Medical Ethics (3 c)
PSY 110: General Psychology (3 c)
PSY 223: Developmental Psychology (3 c)
SPA 1011: Spanish Greetings & Farewells (0.80 c)
SOC 101: Intro to Sociology (3 c)
STA 220: Statistics (3 c) *In progress

Testing and Other: (20 credits)

ALEKS: Intermediate Algebra (3 c)
ALEKS: Pre-Calc (3 c)
DSST: Environment & Humanity (3 c)
DSST: Here's to your Health (3 c)
DSST: Substance Abuse (3 c)
FEMA: 5 certs (5 c)

[DrJohn]

Without knowing the credits you currently have, it would be hard to see how they would fit into a workable degree program at COSC. Rebel100 is probably the one to talk with if you were looking at a joint organizational leadership/healthcare administration degree as I believe that is what his degree is in.

You are correct, at COSC you can break up payments into a workable payment plan, but a lot of this depends on how COSC evaluates your existing credits and where they fit into General Education, Liberal Arts, General Electives and your Concentration with a look at the UL division credits they have accepted and how many more you may need. You need a total of 30 hrs UL at COSC with at least 60 hours of Liberal Arts credits for a B.S., a B.A. would require 90 hrs of liberal arts credits.

You might be better off, applying at both schools, pay the application fee and have them both look over your credits and then decide which is the best fit based on the results you get back.

[amielynne]

Thank you for the reply; I actually did post my current credits, but here they are again:


Community College Credits: (66.90 Credits)

BIO 137: Human Anatomy & Physiology I with Lab (4 c)
BIO 139:Human Anatomy & Physiology II with Lab (4 c)
CHE 130: Intro Gen & Biological Chem (4 c)
CHE 140: Introductory General Chemistry (3 c) *In progress
CHE 145: Intro General Chemistry Lab (1 c) *In progress
CIT 105: Introduction to Computers (3 c)
CLA 131: Med Term from Greek & Latin (3 c) *In progress
CPR 100: CPR Healthcare Professionals (1 c)
COM 101: Intro to Communications (3 c)
ENG 101: Writing I (3 c)
ENG 102: Writing II (3 c) *In progress
MAT 085: Intermediate Algebra (3 c) *Dev. level at CC, may not transfer?
MAT 1201: Intermediate Factoring (0.30 c)
MAT 1202: Rational Expressions (0.30 c)
MAT 1203: Graphs and Functions (0.30 c)
MAT 150: College Algebra (3 c)
NAA 100: Nursing Assistant Skills I (3 c)
NFS 101: Human Nutrition & Wellness (3 c)
PHI 110: Medical Ethics (3 c)
PSY 110: General Psychology (3 c)
PSY 223: Developmental Psychology (3 c)
SPA 1011: Spanish Greetings & Farewells (0.80 c)
SOC 101: Intro to Sociology (3 c)
STA 220: Statistics (3 c) *In progress

Testing and Other: (20 credits)

ALEKS: Intermediate Algebra (3 c)
ALEKS: Pre-Calc (3 c)
DSST: Environment & Humanity (3 c)
DSST: Here's to your Health (3 c)
DSST: Substance Abuse (3 c)
FEMA: 5 certs (5 c)

[DrJohn]

A brief look would tell me that at COSC at least, you may have the majority of your general education credits met. The Science courses, english courses, the Psychology course, and your math would all go into satisfying most of the Gen Eds, the others would most likely go into free electives. You could take the Intro to World Religions DSST exam to satisfy some of the other requirements as well as the U.S. Govt CLEP exam to satisfy that requirement.

In short, you would probably be shy an unknown number of liberal arts courses as well as upper level courses. My recommendation, apply to both schools and see what they tell you. COSC may be your best option for starting faster and completing faster. But TESC may award more of those courses into usable credits or vice versa, I don't know that is up in the hands of either school.

I would take those exams I mentioned soon and knock those out of the way, that will satisfy what could be the remainder of the general education credits you need except for a public speaking course.

[rebel100]

By my estimation you need the following Gen Ed's: General Education Requirements - Charter Oak State College Catalog

3 credits Speech, DSST Public Speaking or request a waiver if you can document public speaking such as teaching, speaking, etc...
3 credits US History, there are CLEP that qualify,the DSST Civil War counts and is also an Upper Level exam (see below).
3 Non US History and 3 Global Understanding....satisfy both with the DSST Human Cultural Geography.
3 credits Literature and Fine Arts...CLEP Analyzing and Interpreting Literature gives you 6 credits too.

So that would complete the Gen Eds except for the Ethics question below, 3-4 exams and about $400. You would add the cornerstone for three credits and be sitting on 80+ credits. You can complete a few more FEMA to get you to the 90 credits you need (I would suggest the PDS be included)

3 Ethics, I would argue that your medical Ethics is sufficient, but you may have issues under the newest COSC requirements.

http://www.charteroak.edu/current/academ...r-list.pdf

With all that done the concentration is all you have left, I'll put that in a separate post...I would go ahead and pay the $200 or so bucks to pick up your AA, its cheap low hanging fruit for you at that point.

[rebel100]

Your Concentration can be completed as a single concentration with all 30 Upper Level (UL, 300-400 level courses) or you can split it up into a dual concentration.

The problem lies in locating CBE at the UL....there just isn't that much to test out of in many cases. By choosing a "dual" concentration you would only need 18 credits (including the capstone) in the primary concentration and 9 in the secondary with room for a 3 credit UL "elective".

The Substance Abuse is UL and would fit nicely into a psychology concentration, Health Care, etc... problem is in finding CBE to go with it. Peruse the master list of exams and see what you like under UL, figure out a plan that makes sense to you. http://www.charteroak.edu/current/academ...r-list.pdf In addition to the DSST UL there is also the option of ECE and TECEP exams....though I really like just taking self paced classes at places like the University of Idaho ($100/credit) or CSU-Pueblo ($150/credit) Look at all the UL Psychology at U of Idaho Psychology-Independent Study in Idaho-University of Idaho. There is a ton of Sociology including several health care titles at CSU-P Sociology > Division of Continuing Education > Colorado State University-Pueblo

You might consider taking the cornerstone on your dime while knocking out the gen-eds via CBE then just transfer into COSC in January. You can work out an articulation agreement to use your financial aid at COSC while taking cheaper courses at CSU-Pueblo to meet federal requirements.

You know that the PELL grant funding will end when you get your Bachelors right? If you have a PELL it might be beneficial to get your Nursing license as an undergrad, even if it takes longer....situation dependent of course. A 4 year BSN at a State School would be nearly free with a PELL grant and well under federal guidelines for accrued credit.

[amielynne]

Awesome! Thank you guys very much for the info. The gen eds you recommended were on a list I started making last night, so it's good to see that I was on the right path. I didn't consider an AA from COSC, Am I really only a few $100 away?! I just might have to do that too! How would I go about that (what would I need)? Could I graduate with both at the same time too? So really all I'm trying to figure out now it my concentration; I've been exploring all of my options and it seems that psychology (with all the LL clep/DSST and all the UL ECE) and business admin (with all the tests and straighterline) would be the easiest, but I am still interested in the organizational leadership/ healthcare admin. Either way I am formulating plans (at least trying to) to weigh the costs, courses/tests needed, test difficulty, and my overall interest in the degree. Thanks again for all of the help! I look forward to more suggestions!