Can your Sophia credits be rejected when applying for a Master?

[rachel83az]

Basically, for any ACE/NCCRS such as Saylor.org, Sophia.org, and so on, they are NOT acceptable for any Canadian institution.  A few years back, I searched the entire ACE list of institutions that mentioned they accept ACE credits - Only 4 Canadian institutions came up, I emailed the four and they didn't acknowledge that fact.  I went up to the director level for each and every one - no go.  That list has since changed, and it's true for all other institutions in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the UK, only 2-3 thousand US institutions accept ACE/NCCRS.

This is true at the undergrad level, yes, but not necessarily true at the graduate level.

[ausernameisneeded]

Basically, for any ACE/NCCRS such as Saylor.org, Sophia.org, and so on, they are NOT acceptable for any Canadian institution.  A few years back, I searched the entire ACE list of institutions that mentioned they accept ACE credits - Only 4 Canadian institutions came up, I emailed the four and they didn't acknowledge that fact.  I went up to the director level for each and every one - no go.  That list has since changed, and it's true for all other institutions in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the UK, only 2-3 thousand US institutions accept ACE/NCCRS.

I'm confused by your reply.

Does it means that if you get your degree, let's say from SNHU with a lot of ACE recommended credits, then your Master's institution in Canada will not accept those credits when applying with your bachelor?

Because some of them look at all your transcripts.

[davewill]

I don't have a specific school + program that I have to go to.

I will likely have a list of 10 to 20 schools that I'll apply to.

Well, you had mentioned wanting to get into a "top university in Canada". If you really want that, I would contact one or two of them and discuss your plans with them. If you tailor your degree program to meet their requirements, you are likely to be good for almost anywhere.

[ausernameisneeded]

I don't have a specific school + program that I have to go to.

I will likely have a list of 10 to 20 schools that I'll apply to.

Well, you had mentioned wanting to get into a "top university in Canada". If you really want that, I would contact one or two of them and discuss your plans with them. If you tailor your degree program to meet their requirements, you are likely to be good for almost anywhere.

Ok. I'll ask 3 to 5 universities before starting my College plan.

[bjcheung77]

Basically, for any ACE/NCCRS such as Saylor.org, Sophia.org, and so on, they are NOT acceptable for any Canadian institution.  A few years back, I searched the entire ACE list of institutions that mentioned they accept ACE credits - Only 4 Canadian institutions came up, I emailed the four and they didn't acknowledge that fact.  I went up to the director level for each and every one - no go.  That list has since changed, and it's true for all other institutions in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the UK, only 2-3 thousand US institutions accept ACE/NCCRS.

I'm confused by your reply.

Does it means that if you get your degree, let's say from SNHU with a lot of ACE recommended credits, then your Master's institution in Canada will not accept those credits when applying with your bachelor?

Because some of them look at all your transcripts.

I wasn't done yet, had something to do... Anyways, what that means is, all institutions have their own regulations and rules they go by for admissions.  Most competitive programs or even the more recognized semi-competitive programs will look at your transcript from all sources.  Basically, It's a combination of answers, they look at a full package and what the student brings in.   For individuals who are going with non-competitive institutions up to less semi-competitive institutions, the ones we recommend would be fine, even if 90+ credits are ACE/NCCRS.  The reason is because they just need a Bachelors for admissions and the last 30 credits for GPA purposes.  We have had semi-competitive institutions look at ACE/NCCRS credits just to make sure you've completed the work.

[dfrecore]

First, Sophia is not a degree mill, because they don't grant degrees - they are an alternative credit provider.

The thing you really need to ask your top schools about is "will you accept a bachelor's degree from a regionally accredited US school that has a lot of ungraded credit?" Because I think if you try to discuss Saylor/Sophia/SDC or whatever with them, they will be totally confused. They just won't understand what you're talking about. You just need to tell them that you're using non-traditional credit like CLEP exams, and will that be a problem if you have 30 graded credits from the school, mostly in your major.

I would not mention any of the course providers you want to use at all, as I think that will be beyond confusing. Also, the people you will talk to probably aren't the people who make the decisions on acceptance, so be prepared for them to know less than you'd like.

[allvia]

My plan was to study all the courses before paying for a (Sophia) subscription.

Sophia doesn't work that way.  It is not a pick a subject and take a single exam.  If you have the time to study a subject well enough to pass a general exam it is safe to say you have time to work through the Sophia courses.  I would have to agree that overall your budget for Sophia vs Saylor is likely equal to each other - Sophia will be easier to achieve.

As far as the credits being rejected when it comes to graduate programs - as others have already made the point that Sophia or other alternative credits are part of your degree as a whole. When it comes to graduate schools they look at the degree as a whole, not the individual courses.  An ideal example of "the whole is greater than the sum of its parts" (Aristotle).  

Don't confuse the schools you're inquiring on graduate programs for by asking specifically about ACE, Sophia, etc.  Ask if you graduate with a bachelor from an US RA (Regional Accreditation) school (such as TESU, SNHU, etc) and were able to meet many of the general education requirements through Pass/Fail methods will it impact your admittance? It is likely they'll tell you as long as you have a GPA based on X amount of credits, or your master degree program prerequisites must be graded, or maybe they'll just say that is fine.  You're too focused on the parts, not the whole. One thing we have learned on this forum over the years is that admission advisors, at nearly all schools, get confused when you're focused on something they know nothing (specifically) about.

[LevelUP]

Quotes from SNHU students

I just completed the Computer Science program at SNHU this past term and applied for the Computer Science Master's program at Johns Hopkins. I had absolutely no issue with acceptance.

I write this as I am holding my diploma... only took me 10 years to get here but I am truly TRULY thankful for SNHU for providing the online platform for a non-traditional student like myself. And in case you were wondering if SNHU degree would be less than other schools - I got into Northeastern Law School... which is ranked 29th in the country.

I don't know about Canada, but in the U.S., students have had no problem getting into top college graduate programs.

But SNHU does accept NCCRS courses as well. OnlineDegree is NCCRS. I'm not sure if it was overlooked by LevelUP when creating the SNHU plans or if they don't seem to have anything worthwhile for SNHU.

I have OnlineDegree as one of the options for Intro to Scripting. Any degree that requires Applied Statistics for Science MAT243 means you must take both Sophia Stats MAT240 and Intro to Scripting IT140 to satisfy the MAT243 requirement.

https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/SN...egree_Plan

[ausernameisneeded]

First, Sophia is not a degree mill, because they don't grant degrees - they are an alternative credit provider.

The thing you really need to ask your top schools about is "will you accept a bachelor's degree from a regionally accredited US school that has a lot of ungraded credit?"  Because I think if you try to discuss Saylor/Sophia/SDC or whatever with them, they will be totally confused.  They just won't understand what you're talking about.  You just need to tell them that you're using non-traditional credit like CLEP exams, and will that be a problem if you have 30 graded credits from the school, mostly in your major.

I would not mention any of the course providers you want to use at all, as I think that will be beyond confusing.  Also, the people you will talk to probably aren't the people who make the decisions on acceptance, so be prepared for them to know less than you'd like.

Copy that

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My plan was to study all the courses before paying for a (Sophia) subscription.

Sophia doesn't work that way.  It is not a pick a subject and take a single exam.  If you have the time to study a subject well enough to pass a general exam it is safe to say you have time to work through the Sophia courses.  I would have to agree that overall your budget for Sophia vs Saylor is likely equal to each other - Sophia will be easier to achieve.

As far as the credits being rejected when it comes to graduate programs - as others have already made the point that Sophia or other alternative credits are part of your degree as a whole. When it comes to graduate schools they look at the degree as a whole, not the individual courses.  An ideal example of "the whole is greater than the sum of its parts" (Aristotle).  

Don't confuse the schools you're inquiring on graduate programs for by asking specifically about ACE, Sophia, etc.  Ask if you graduate with a bachelor from an US RA (Regional Accreditation) school (such as TESU, SNHU, etc) and were able to meet many of the general education requirements through Pass/Fail methods will it impact your admittance? It is likely they'll tell you as long as you have a GPA based on X amount of credits, or your master degree program prerequisites must be graded, or maybe they'll just say that is fine.  You're too focused on the parts, not the whole. One thing we have learned on this forum over the years  is that admission advisors, at nearly all schools, get confused when you're focused on something they know nothing (specifically) about.

Thank you, that's really helpful

[jsh1138]

All Sophia credits are undergrad. There are no graduate courses currently available on Sophia.

That's not my concern.

My concern is after getting your Bachelor degree, the grad school will look at all your transcripts.

Your Bachelor's Degree is the prereq for the Master's program. They aren't going to make you retake undergrad credits to "prove" you have a degree, that's what the degree is for. The degree is the proof you did the work. If you have the degree, you're fine