Charter Oak State College - New Degree in B.S. Business Administration

[KittenMittens]

Do you have a link to COSC's BSBA degree requirements? Did I miss it in the thread? For the general management specialization, you would only need one advanced course in accounting or finance. The rest can be marketing and management. You can also choose a different specialization that doesn't require advanced coursework in accounting or finance at all such as marketing.

It's not posted on their website yet, but the major will also require business law and a business statistics course. They said it will be up there shortly.

[sanantone]

It's not posted on their website yet, but the major will also require business law and a business statistics course. They said it will be up there shortly.

I'll wait to see it. Is the individual concentration their general concentration? The others look like they might not be test-friendly, except for maybe human resources management.

[KittenMittens]

yes, it's the general concentration - the one most people would likely pursue from what the college told me.

[Tedium]

I'm pretty excited about it. I will have already taken the Cornerstone and graduated with my BA, so I'm hoping they will not make me take it again. If they will then the degree looks pretty good on my end. I have enjoyed my time at COSC and I'm glad they are pulling this together into a major. They have done a lot to work with me and I have thoroughly enjoyed their customer service. I was kind of sad at the thought of having to switch to TESC. I just wish that they would get a major in accounting, but I think this BSBA coupled with a certificate would be just fine.

Due to travel distance and the desire not to take a pen and paper exam, I'm wanting to take no DSSTs to test out and I'd prefer no Straighterline or Penn Foster. Just by eyeballing the master list that looks possible, with UExcel, CLEP, and TECEP credits. Am I wrong about that? I would already have my Gen Ed and Lib Arts credits. I would just need business credit exams.

[KittenMittens]

Eyeballing the courses taken, you've already satisfied a lot of upper level credits. Social Psychology, and the 9 credits of English = 12 credits (but confirm with college to be sure they will take all of them as upper level, but I'm sure they will)

As far as upper level electives go, if you want to study efficiently/quickly using instantcert flash cards, you basically need UExcel Organizational Behavior, UExcel Human Resource Management, DSST Business Ethics, UExcel Labor Relations, and a 4th elective (I chose Penn Foster Employee Benefits and finished in a few days).

Ideally, take Penn Foster "Financial Management" for a quick and easy A - the DSST exam is horrible/bad for most people.

You need a course in financial and managerial accounting, business law I, business statistics (ALEKS works), microecon and macroecon, intro management, and intro marketing.

[Tedium]

I'm confused you have a BA as in Bachelor's in Arts from COSC? If you do, then they won't have you retake cornerstone seminar. You'd have to do the MGT 499 Capstone course through Charter Oak, but that's the only course you'd have to take. In the wiki (see signature), there's advice on getting the book for cheap (get an international edition for $50 on eBay and don't spend $250 for it - scumbag textbook companies!!!).

With UExcel, CLEP, and TECEP credits you should be fine, just double check that any TECEPs not mentioned on the list could be UL. Look at the degree wikia (in signature) for possible course options for the 12 UL business electives. Easy UExcels are Human Resource Management (I studied for a few hours using instantcert flash cards, 2 practice exams, the sample questions from the official test guide, and read the forum advice for it), UExcel Organizational Behavior, and UExcel Labor Relations. There weren't any other straightforward UExcel exams for the 4th business elective, so I picked Penn Foster's $237 Employee Benefits course which was easy. You could feasibly study/do for these 3 UExcel exams in a few days. Pass rates are extremely high and I got As on all of these with no background. A lot of it is common sense, paired with repeat questions from practice exams. Gotta love it.

Are there no DSSTs you can take through a computer? Some of the upper level ones are worth taking in particular DSST Business Ethics (easy), and DSST Substance Abuse (easy).

For the MIS requirement for COSC, you'd probably want to fulfill that with DSST MIS as there are no other exam substitutes as far as I'm aware of that can replace it. So you may have to find a test center for that: Test Centers | DSST | Get College Credit

I'm finishing my BA in the Fall. Then I'll be able to start testing out of the BSBA. Just need to make sure at least 30 of my credits for my BSBA are gained after I graduate. Six are going to be from COSC, so I can get financial aid, so I'll just take MIS from COSC if need be. I was already trying to debate which second class to take there, so if that is the only one I can't easily test out of then the decision is made for me.

The problem is that the closest testing center for DSST that delivers computer based testing is 2 1/2 hours away from me. the next closest is an hour and they only do pen and paper, and the other one also an hour away charges outrageous testing center fees to the tune of ~$65. I'd rather know my results when I finish, so that I can make other arrangements immediately if I happen to fail. Waiting on my College Composition scores is wrecking my nerves enough, and I know I passed that one. I can only imagine my stress levels for a test I was less sure of.

Everything else has a UExcel counterpart. For the last business elective credit, I was going to take the Federal Income Taxation TECEP, seeing as it is open book. I appreciate the feedback on the UExcels. That lightens my mental load a bit. So, I'll be taking mostly CLEP and UExcels, one open book TECEP, ALEKS Business Stats, and two COSC courses. Not the cheapest plan around, but not the most expensive. Certainly less stressful worrying about results. And it will be good to know that I have the DSSTs to fall back on if the unthinkable does happen.

[KittenMittens]

I'm finishing my BA in the Fall. Then I'll be able to start testing out of the BSBA. Just need to make sure at least 30 of my credits for my BSBA are gained after I graduate. Six are going to be from COSC, so I can get financial aid, so I'll just take MIS from COSC if need be. I was already trying to debate which second class to take there, so if that is the only one I can't easily test out of then the decision is made for me.

The problem is that the closest testing center for DSST that delivers computer based testing is 2 1/2 hours away from me. the next closest is an hour and they only do pen and paper, and the other one also an hour away charges outrageous testing center fees to the tune of ~$65. I'd rather know my results when I finish, so that I can make other arrangements immediately if I happen to fail. Waiting on my College Composition scores is wrecking my nerves enough, and I know I passed that one. I can only imagine my stress levels for a test I was less sure of.

Everything else has a UExcel counterpart. For the last business elective credit, I was going to take the Federal Income Taxation TECEP, seeing as it is open book. I appreciate the feedback on the UExcels. That lightens my mental load a bit. So, I'll be taking mostly CLEP and UExcels, one open book TECEP, ALEKS Business Stats, and two COSC courses. Not the cheapest plan around, but not the most expensive. Certainly less stressful worrying about results. And it will be good to know that I have the DSSTs to fall back on if the unthinkable does happen.

If you're struggling to find a 2nd class for financial aid purposes, MIS will be fine. I'll say that the DSST MIS is very straightforward if you're an average proficiency with tech - pass rates are around 97% percent for this one. If you're looking to save money, if you can do the DSST in MIS (if you're comfortable in passing it), you could find a 2nd course in UL Business Elective through COSC.

Also, if you decide to forgo the DSST in Business Ethics, you'll have to find a substitute for that too, though that exam is also another easy one.

I'd say that 2.5 hours is not that bad travel time especially if you have someone who can drive you and study while in the car. I ha the same problem with the DSSTs that they're not easy to locate/convenient, but I was able to take time off from work to do it, and traveled about an hour but it was worth it for the money saved. Actually for DSST MIS, I took a paper version, and I got the results back in about 3 weeks. Since these DSSTs are pretty straightforward, you'll generally feel/know that you passed it (I mean with DSSTs you basically need to get a 50% on the exam to pass!), but in your case, if you could make the 2.5 hour trip, it could spare you the wait/anxiety of waiting.

Yes, with COSC the general idea is that it's not going to be the cheapest, but it's going to be somewhere in the middle. As a result, it ends up being a comfortable balance between price, and convenience.

[Tedium]

If you're struggling to find a 2nd class for financial aid purposes, MIS will be fine. I'll say that the DSST MIS is very straightforward if you're an average proficiency with tech - pass rates are around 97% percent for this one. If you're looking to save money, if you can do the DSST in MIS (if you're comfortable in passing it), you could find a 2nd course in UL Business Elective through COSC.

Also, if you decide to forgo the DSST in Business Ethics, you'll have to find a substitute for that too, though that exam is also another easy one.

I'd say that 2.5 hours is not that bad travel time especially if you have someone who can drive you and study while in the car. I ha the same problem with the DSSTs that they're not easy to locate/convenient, but I was able to take time off from work to do it, and traveled about an hour but it was worth it for the money saved. Actually for DSST MIS, I took a paper version, and I got the results back in about 3 weeks. Since these DSSTs are pretty straightforward, you'll generally feel/know that you passed it (I mean with DSSTs you basically need to get a 50% on the exam to pass!), but in your case, if you could make the 2.5 hour trip, it could spare you the wait/anxiety of waiting.

Yes, with COSC the general idea is that it's not going to be the cheapest, but it's going to be somewhere in the middle. As a result, it ends up being a comfortable balance between price, and convenience.

I do have several months before I really start to get into my BSBA, so my thoughts on DSST might change before then. But if I can get everything done without having to worry about score return or spending all day traveling to and from taking a test, I'll do that.

I was just going to take the Business Ethics UExcel to replace the DSST. I already have an Ethics course, so I'm hoping they will accept that, similar to how they view the Saylor Ethics class: "BUS205: Business Law & Ethics would serve as a free elective & does not meet any General Education requirements. It can be coupled with another course at Charter Oak that also has an ethics component to meet the Charter Oak ethics requirement." I'll e-mail the registrar about it today for confirmation.

Like I said, my views may change, I just want to know this way is possible if they do not.

ETA: Actually, having typed all of that out I was thinking: is Business Ethics a requirement? I don't see it listed on the concentration page. I know an ethics is required for Gen Ed, but I already met that. Would I really have to take another? Not that I would mind an extra UL graded course, but I'm just wondering.

[KittenMittens]

I do have several months before I really start to get into my BSBA, so my thoughts on DSST might change before then. But if I can get everything done without having to worry about score return or spending all day traveling to and from taking a test, I'll do that.

I was just going to take the Business Ethics UExcel to replace the DSST. I already have an Ethics course, so I'm hoping they will accept that, similar to how they view the Saylor Ethics class: "BUS205: Business Law & Ethics would serve as a free elective & does not meet any General Education requirements. It can be coupled with another course at Charter Oak that also has an ethics component to meet the Charter Oak ethics requirement." I'll e-mail the registrar about it today for confirmation.

Like I said, my views may change, I just want to know this way is possible if they do not.

ETA: Actually, having typed all of that out I was thinking: is Business Ethics a requirement? I don't see it listed on the concentration page. I know an ethics is required for Gen Ed, but I already met that. Would I really have to take another? Not that I would mind an extra UL graded course, but I'm just wondering.

Yes, you don’t need to take the Business Ethics UExcel exam. I forgot about the UExcel Business Ethics exam (and I didn’t include it because it wasn’t counted as a liberal arts elective whereas DSST Business ethics was plus it was pass/fail).

If you wanted another upper level exam, you could take the regular UExcel Ethics exam (separate from the DSST Business Ethics or UExcel Business ethics one). They let me take both DSST Business Ethics and UExcel Ethics - Theory & Practice for the additional UL credit (though this exam costs way more keep that in mind).

COSC’s MIS course would probably cost you out of state like $360 * 3 = $1,080 or so (plus the associated fees). If it were me, I'd save the money and finish a 2nd UL business course through COSC (are you doing part-time financial aid for 6 credits???), worry about one less business elective, and spend $100 to get an easy pass for DSST MIS. If you did it the other way, you'd spend like $1,100 for each course (an upper level business course and one MIS course) for an extra grand. I know you exclude Penn Foster's, but realize they are extremely easy, cheap ($237), and can be finished in a few hours/days tops. Some of them have no proctor requirements, and if they do can be generally anyone including a friend as long as they have a college degree.


I imagine you’re thinking of getting partial financial aid with MGT 499: Capstone course by having 6 credits, right? Keep in mind that before then you need/should have satisfied the MIS course, as well as Organizational Behavior. This is MGT 499’s pre-reqs:
“Prerequisites:
• ACC 101: Financial Accounting
• ACC 102: Managerial Accounting
• FIN 210: Financial Management
• ITE 101: Management Information Systems
• MGT 101: Principles of Management
• MGT 315: Organizational Behavior
• MKT 220: Principles of Marketing
• ENG 101: English Composition 1
• ENG 102: English Composition 2”

You may be able to get a waiver if you don’t have some of these fulfilled, but that’s between you and the college and what they feel like doing. So you may have to do the MIS course or exam before then as well.

edit: There is a Finance requirement, and most people tend to choose between doing the DSST in Finance (which is known for being hard) or Penn Foster's Financial Management course which is a joke (no proctored final, 5 easy multiple choice quizzes and final with each being bale to retake twice). You can finish that within 10 hours or so with minimal reading.

[topdog98]

... so I'll just take MIS from COSC if need be..

I was able to take the Information Systems and Computer Applications CLEP to satisfy the MIS requirement at COSC. (This was suggested on an advising sheet from COSC.) This would probably be the best way for you to satisfy this requirement, since you are wanting to avoid DSSTs.