COSC Questions Answered Here :)

[burbuja0512]

Wow! I have looked at this thread and it has answered so many questions. Thank you!

I do have a few more questions that I was hoping would be answered:

1. Some people have indicated that you choose what classes transfer over from previous schools. I went to a four year college and accumulated 140 credit hours that mainly have nothing to do with my "concentration". Some courses I did not do so well on so I don't want the grades to transfer (and they don't apply to my major anyways). Not only would this affect my GPA, but it would affect financial aid as well. Does COSC actually allow this?

2. The catalog indicates certain courses under each concentration (for instance principles of management, principles of marketing, etc.). Are these required courses or can you use other LL business courses to fulfill the requirements.

Thanks for all of your help!

Hi there and welcome!

I have a question regarding your 140 credits. Is it possible that you might already have a degree if you put them together into something like a Liberal Arts or a Learner Designed Area of Study? Is there a reason why you'd want to choose a specific area of concentration that would be different than what your credits focus on?

Here's what I'm getting at: At 140 credits, you have put in your undergraduate time and money. Why not just wrap your credits into a degree as best you can and then spend your energy on a masters degree if you still feel like studying? This may not work for your intended career path, but since MANY undergrad degrees don't do a lot for your job prospects other than help you meet the bachelor's requirement, you might want to think about it. You might also want to re-think whether COSC is best for you. COSC will require that you take both a Cornerstone and a Capstone, while TESC will not. So without looking at your credits, assuming that you have enough upper level credits, you could hypothetically just transfer your credits to TESC and then graduate if you could fit them neatly into a degree plan. (Either an existing one or LDAS)

For each concentration, there will be required courses and electives. For my business administration concentration, I did pretty much exactly what my advisor suggested for the business requirements and had some flexibility for the biz electives. If you have a certain combination in mind, you can design your own plan. Click on this link: Concentrations (Majors) and CPS Forms at Charter Oak State College and scroll down to the bottom to see the individualized study information. TESC's LDAS info is here: Thomas Edison State College | Learner Designed Area of Study (LDAS) in case this is a better fit. I don't know what options that EC would have here, but I know that they do also require a Capstone.

I would love to hear more about what you have in mind and I'm sure others will be able to help offer their advice too. It sounds like regardless of what you choose, if you're careful, you won't be too far from a degree. That being said, I met people at my COSC graduation who had well over 200 credits because they changed majors and schools too often. We definitely don't want that to happen to you unless credit collecting is your ultimate goal