Where is recommended to take these courses?

[cameronbroadhurst]

I have planned to take the following courses this Spring, 2015. Where online do you recommend me taking these courses? I have looked into ALEKS, Straighterline, CLEP, and Saylor, but I would like to know which are best for each course.
This is all new to me. I would appreciate some help! Thanks.

Business Communications
College Algebra
Microeconomics
Principles of Marketing

[dfrecore]

I don't think there is a "best" place to take courses. What works for one person might not work for another, and what works for one course might not work for another.

That being said, ALEKS is great for math if you need to learn the concepts and can't just test out. And the cost is great at $20/mo. I don't know about Saylor, though you can also work through the course (for free) and not pay for the exam ($25) until after you've completed the course and feel ready for it. But I don't know how well their website works or how the content is. With both courses, you can test out if you'd like. With ALEKS, it's just a matter of getting 70% on an assessment, so if you did that pretty quickly, you wouldn't have to continue on through the program. With Saylor, you can take the unproctored final to see how you do, and then make arrangements to take the proctored final when you want to. Both programs are fully online, and exams are done from home.

Also with ALEKS, if you finish before your month is up, and you want to continue on, you could take Precalculus and/or Statistics for additional credit (at no additional cost). You can also take Intermediate Algebra if you want to get that credit as well.

Principles of Marketing CLEP was fairly easy, but I have background there.

Microeconomics is on my list, I'm taking the TECEP because I need more of those to fulfill residency requirements at TESC.

Business Communications ??? (took it at a B&M years ago)

I'm sure others will chime in with their opinions, lots of very knowledgeable people here to help you.

[cameronbroadhurst]

I don't think there is a "best" place to take courses. What works for one person might not work for another, and what works for one course might not work for another.

That being said, ALEKS is great for math if you need to learn the concepts and can't just test out. And the cost is great at $20/mo. I don't know about Saylor, though you can also work through the course (for free) and not pay for the exam ($25) until after you've completed the course and feel ready for it. But I don't know how well their website works or how the content is. With both courses, you can test out if you'd like. With ALEKS, it's just a matter of getting 70% on an assessment, so if you did that pretty quickly, you wouldn't have to continue on through the program. With Saylor, you can take the unproctored final to see how you do, and then make arrangements to take the proctored final when you want to. Both programs are fully online, and exams are done from home.

Also with ALEKS, if you finish before your month is up, and you want to continue on, you could take Precalculus and/or Statistics for additional credit (at no additional cost). You can also take Intermediate Algebra if you want to get that credit as well.

Principles of Marketing CLEP was fairly easy, but I have background there.

Microeconomics is on my list, I'm taking the TECEP because I need more of those to fulfill residency requirements at TESC.

Business Communications ??? (took it at a B&M years ago)

I'm sure others will chime in with their opinions, lots of very knowledgeable people here to help you.

Thanks for that insight!
Both ALEKS and Saylor websites are a little confusing for me, but I will understand their sites better soon. My only question for you would be, are these courses from ALEKS and Saylor ACE Accredited? My plan is to transfer my credits to Thomas Edison when I am finished. I ask because neither of them specifically say they are ACE Accredited or have a certification stamp at the bottom of their website like Straighterline.

[SwaggyP]

Thanks for that insight!
Both ALEKS and Saylor websites are a little confusing for me, but I will understand their sites better soon. My only question for you would be, are these courses from ALEKS and Saylor ACE Accredited? My plan is to transfer my credits to Thomas Edison when I am finished. I ask because neither of them specifically say they are ACE Accredited or have a certification stamp at the bottom of their website like Straighterline.

Yes, ALEKS College Algebra is ACE approved. ACE Credit Courses

[dfrecore]

ALEKS has ACE-approved courses, the courses that are ACE approved say "ACE" next to them. The rest of their courses are NOT ACE-approved.

Saylor has 2 ACE-approved courses and 9 NCCRS-approved courses (TESC will take all 11 of these courses). The remainder of their courses are not ACE-approved.

ALL of StraighterLine's courses are ACE-approved, which is probably why they can put the certification stamp on their website.

[Westerner]

The Marketing CLEP was straightforward and fairly easy.