Confused about how this works...

[Mossy]

Hello,
I'm really new to all of this and I don't really understand how this works. So let's say I go to COSC, can I take all of the required tests I need online? (CLEP, DANTE, etc.) Can someone please explain to me if I actually have to go to the campus, or go to a testing center? How do I prove that I took these tests? I just want more info before I sign up for one of these schools. I've done a lot of reading, but I can't seem to find the answer to my questions anywhere.

[NumberSix]

You go to a testing center for CLEP and DANTES/DSST the company that runs the test will send scores to school.

[Saharapost]

Welcome to degreeforum. When it comes to any of the Big Three (COSC, TESC, or Excelsior), it is often advisable to get some credits before applying to any of them. There are a couple of ways you can get college level credits that are transferable to any of the above mentioned colleges. You may take CLEP and DSST exams, Uexcel, TECEP, and from your local community college. You may also take college level courses from straighterline.com

I believe COSC still accepts FEMA for credits- you may want to take some FEMA courses as these are offered free of charge. If you decide to come to TESC (this is where I school and I'll always recommend it to people), FEMA will not work as they have stopped awarding credits for them. Other sources of free credits are TEEX http://www.degreeforum.net/general-educa...-teex.html

In summary, if I were you, I'd start by deciding what degree I want to pursue and which of the colleges offers the best deal in terms of cost and amount of transferable credits. Then I'll create a degree plan. Here is a wiki page whare you can choose from the various degree plans created by forum members TESC Degree Plans - Degree Forum Wiki Sanatone's BSBA General Management degree plan is one of the most popular on this forum Sanantone's BSBA General Management - Degree Forum Wiki



Let's assume you want a BSBA= Bachelors of Business Administration degree from TESC= Thomas Edison State College, you'll start by defining whether you want to major in General Management, Human Resource Management, Computer Info Systems, Accounting, Marketing etc and then draft a degree plan where you'll select general education courses, business electives, business core courses and general electives to test out of. Some of us have used Straighterline to knock of almost all the Business core and electives before or after taking general education courses elsewhere.

Now let's say you have zero college credits, you may want to start by taking general education courses or knocking them off by testing. To do this, depending on your purse, you may register for CLEP. Since I am a foreign student who does not reside in the US, I did not take CLEP and I have less information about it. For Straighterline (this is where I got some of my credits from), you may want to take English Composition 1 and 2, Economics 1 and 2, Psychology, Biology, etc. What is important is to decide what degree you want and what method you will use in accumulating credits.

To help you further, forum members would need to know if you've got college level credits from previous studies or whether you are just starting afresh. Do you have some certification that could be converted to college credits?

[Leebo]

To take CLEP and DSST, you schedule an appointment at a testing center. Different testing centers have different policies on ID, but everyone will require 1 form of ID and some will require 2 (usually with one of them being a passport). That's how they confirm it's you taking the tests.

[cookderosa]

Hello,
I'm really new to all of this and I don't really understand how this works. So let's say I go to COSC, can I take all of the required tests I need online? (CLEP, DANTE, etc.) Can someone please explain to me if I actually have to go to the campus, or go to a testing center? How do I prove that I took these tests? I just want more info before I sign up for one of these schools. I've done a lot of reading, but I can't seem to find the answer to my questions anywhere.

Whatever college you choose (COSC or even your local school) you'll look at the requirements for a degree. Then, you'll make a plan to meet each requirement. COSC allows any test that fits to be accepted (whereas some colleges limit the number of tests accepted). So, since COSC is a distance learning school, you will NOT have to go to campus (some distance learning schools require a visit but COSC does not). Also, you don't have to use tests, you can use previous college credit, or take classes locally, take classes online from thousands of other colleges, etc. and transfer the credit in. The options are very flexible!

Credit, like CLEP, must be earned by taking the exam at an approved testing center. Use each brand's website to find a list of testing centers near your home- that's where you'll go to test.

Welcome to the boards!

[sanantone]

DSST and CLEP keep a database of colleges and universities that offer their tests.
Locate an Institution | DSST | Get College Credit
CLEP Test Center Search to find nearest location and contact information | CLEP

Uexcels are offered at Pearson testing centers. You sign up through Excelsior, but you do not have to be an Excelsior student.
Excelsior College | UExcel Home

TECEPs either require you to find a proctor, or you can take the test online through ProctorU. You do not need to be a TESC student to take TECEPs.
Thomas Edison State College: Course Offerings

Saylor also uses ProctorU.
National College Credit Recommendation Service (NCCRS) « Saylor Academy

[Mossy]

(some distance learning schools require a visit but COSC does not)

Which ones require this? Do you know? I was mostly thinking of going to TESC since I've heard nothing but good things about it. Do they require you to be on campus?


By the way, thank you for all your help everyone!

[Westerner]

TESC does not require you to go on campus to get a degree there.

[EI2HCB]

Mossy,

Welcome to the Forum, The first step is to decide what you would like as your degree. For most degrees you will find that the requirements are that you meet some General Education requirements somewhere around the 50-60 credits mark. Most courses and tests appear on your transcript at most schools in three credit blocks. (There are exceptions)

Your General Education credits can be completed before you enroll in a school through testing or through your local Community College. Most of us here want to avoid paying lots of money for College credit we can earn in less expensive ways.

(personally I enrolled in the school first and then started taking tests, however this may be more costly for some people, the advantage is that your advisor will approve the tests that you need as opposed to ones which you think you need)

CLEP is the most well known outside of this forum and there are thousands of collages which accept them when you enroll, they either give you credit for the class or they exempt you from taking that particular course. There are 3 credit CLEP tests and 6 Credit CLEP tests which can be taken for $80 plus a test center fee of around $15 depending on your local ones current prices.
To take a CLEP test you open an account on the college board and purchase the test which you want to take (my most recent one was U.S History II) then you contact the test center and pay them a fee and schedule the test. You then take the sheet from the College Board purchase along with two forms of I.D drivers license and passport (which is what I take) which have my name exactly as it is entered on the College board site. (that's important) You can take as many of the tests as you like before you send them to your college since you have to be enrolled in order to send them to that particular college. (there is a small fee to send them once you enroll somewhere after you've taken them but if you are enrolled they get transferred to your college in about three days)

For the "big three" COSC, TESC and Excelsior there is no travelling necessary although you will have to travel to take the tests.

There are other options, General education credits can be acquired through taking an online course and having an online proctor watch you at home take a test. This is usually done through the company Straighterline without having to travel, this is sometimes used by people overseas or others for which travelling to a test center is difficult.

There are multiple other options as the posts above describe once you meet the requirements at a particular school you can apply to graduate and when all the requirements are met you'll receive you degree. For many of us it takes months and years to get a degree so some of us will travel to the graduation ceremony in whatever school we enrolled in because we have worked so hard and want to celebrate it in a special way but it isn't required.

[Mossy]

Okay, I realized I wasn't being very descriptive about what I wanted to do (I'm sorry :o). I'm planning on getting a BSBA (Business Admin) degree. Here's another thing I'm worried about. I'm planning on teaching English overseas, and I'd like to know if TESC could actually make this possible. I heard that some people had problems with getting their transcripts back, and I'd like to know if this is a common thing?