EC Application and Enrollment

[TMW2010]

From the Transcript Status page under My EC -

Please note: Your evaluation will be conducted within 4 weeks of our receipt of your transcript(s).

So, if your schools, organizations are nice enough to get the transcripts over to EC quickly, it may be less... In the past, my schools have taken about 2 weeks to get around to getting the transcripts out. (Which is why I had seal official copies on hand, and mailed them out to EC myself today.)

[NAP]

Thank you both for answering my question. I will take that into account as I start my application process.

TMW2010 - I sent you a PM. I have a question about ALEKS and applying.

[MaieJaie]

When I applied, it took exactly two weeks after my transcripts arrived for EC to complete the unofficial evaluation. After I paid my enrollment fee, I was told it would take four weeks for my official evaluation to be completed, but it only took two and a half weeks. From what I recall seeing on this forum, most EC official evaluations seem to get completed within 2-3 weeks from the date the enrollment fee is paid.

An important thing to remember, though, is that once the official evaluation is completed, you have 30 days to request any changes. Look over the evaluation in detail. I had a couple of odd changes that needed to be made. Having seen my official transcripts from some of these schools, I can tell you that some of my transcripts were so vague about what was listed that I actually predicted one of the mistakes. I emailed EC using the MyEC Message Center, explaining what changes I was requesting and my reasoning behind the requests. My advisor updated my Status Report the very next business day, granting all of the changes I had requested.

All things considered, I was rather impressed with the efficiency of the enrollment process; it all moved much more quickly than I had anticipated.

[NAP]

Thank you MaieJaie! You have added a lot of helpful information. I'll be sure to print it and refer to it as I am getting closer to enrolling.

[TMW2010]

I did notice while browsing the catalog that I can take the MLS 500 Graduate Research and Writing in lieu of the Research & Writing course.. I'll have to look into the cost difference on this, but it would be nice to have a leg up, because I'm planning on hitting grad school for a masters asap after finishing this degree up.

Just for anyone who might consider taking the Graduate level Research and Writing through Excelsior, this is what it consists of:

• Its an 8 week course
  
• Its worth 3 credits (Grad Level) ($425/Credit $1275 total)
  
• Class Discussion on the Discussion forum - 20% of Grade
  
• Paper #1 5-7 pages - 20%
  
• Paper #2 5-7 pages - 20%
  
• Paper #3 7-10 pages - 20%
  
• Paper #4 10-13 pages - 20%
  

I'm also waiting to hear back from Excelsior on whether taking a Grad Course to use towards an Undergrad degree would make the credits eligible for the $15/credit Graduation Fee discount.

[alissaroot]

Frankly, the unofficial eval was not worth much anyway. Go ahead and pay and get in line to get the full assessment and then you can get advice from the counselors right after you have that.

Also, being older, I paid to get at least the AS in my hands as quickly as possible but check other posts as there has been a lot of discussion on how some people here wished they had just registered for the BS and kept working toward that. Otherwise you pay the $895 (?) to get registered, then $495 to graduate. Then you have to re-enroll for another $895 for the BS and a second set of graduation fees, and if it takes longer than a year you only pay the annual fee to roll over which is, if I remember correctly, about the same as the graduation fee.

I'm not exactly sure of the fees, as I'm just answering this without verifying.

Check their site for all of their fees and plan ahead if your ultimate goal is the BS -- you will have more money for testing fees and/or courses.

I thought if EC students enrolled in the B.S. immediately after doing an A.S. they received a huge discount on the enrollment fee, something like $400 off, so that the cost for doing a B.S. in addition to an A.S. would be about the same as if you had just done the B.S. alone, except for having to pay two graduation fees. Does anyone know for sure? Was that just a promotional thing or do they do that for all subsequent degrees through EC?

[NAP]

I thought if EC students enrolled in the B.S. immediately after doing an A.S. they received a huge discount on the enrollment fee, something like $400 off, so that the cost for doing a B.S. in addition to an A.S. would be about the same as if you had just done the B.S. alone, except for having to pay two graduation fees. Does anyone know for sure? Was that just a promotional thing or do they do that for all subsequent degrees through EC?

Hi Alissa!

That is my understanding of how it works, too, from what I have read in their brochures. The enrollment fee for the Bachelor's degree after completing an Associate degree through Excelsior is about half the regular fee, if you reenroll within a year. That basically gives you a year to work on your own between degrees and then a year to finish with them before another student fee is needed. It definitely helps if you want to get both degrees and can complete the second degree that quickly. (I hope it is their standard policy and not just a promotion.) It is still about $1500 plus $1000 for the 2 degrees, but it would be nice to be eligible for the discount.

I am considering doing this. Even if I need a 3rd year to complete the Bachelor's degree, then the discount would pay for the student service fee (about $450) and I would break even.

I also hope they will be willing to talk with me about my plans for a Bachelor's degree while I am enrolled for the Associate degree.

[TMW2010]

I've toyed with the idea of getting the Associates, and then the BS, but as of right now I'm 38 (40) credits out from my BS, 30 of them being psych, 3 for College writing which time going to be taking the UExcel for soon, 1 for Info Lit, which I'm going to finish tomorrow, and the 3 UL credits, which I'm hoping they'll let me take the MIS DSST, but that I won't know until the after the official eval, and the Research and writing course, (which is worth either 1 or 3 credits, depending if I do it undergrad or grad) so I figure I'll just wait it out and just get the BS, unless their finacial aid office wants to do the cha-cha, and get everything paid off through a student loan.

Right now the waiting is killing me... I've still got two (well, three) outstanding transcripts that they're waiting for, one from ACE, one from Microsoft (which was supposed to be sent out on the 23rd of last month, but I'm sure the holidays played havoc with that) and finally, my CLEP transcript since I didn't send the first CLEP I took to them (but they have the other four, so for the unofficial eval, that's fine and a lesser matter.)

The moment I get the unofficial eval from them, I'm going to enroll and get the official eval rolling so I can start getting the track finalized. Hopefully in May, I'll just have the Research and writing to do...

I've got my fingers crossed that if I do only get around 27 credits on the GRE, that they'd allow me to use the 3 credit Grad R&W course to round out the 30 credits for the major, but we'll see how all that goes, I guess.

[prettykimmie]

It took two weeks for my unofficial evaluation to complete. Honestly, the unofficial evaluation was pretty comprehensive and indicated I only needed IL (Information Literacy) to complete my degree. I held my breath until I got my "official evaluation" to confirm the results. Good luck!eeya:

[TMW2010]

Well, they finally received all my transcripts... Well the ones I told them to expect... There's another transcript that should be on its way from the College Board for that first clep I didn't send them, and Penn Foster is sending out my Info Lit in the mail tomorrow (according to them). That should give those two enough time to get in between the initial and official evals.

I've got 37 credits left to go... Or maybe 39... I'm still up in the air about taking the Grad Level course... Kinda scared to do it, even though I'm 100% sure I'm going to be signing up for grad school as soon as my degree is complete.

3 Tests and 1 class away... From taking 12 more classes at a higher level of difficulty... Whooo!.. Heh