How responsive is TESC when it comes to applications/admissions questions?

[OfficerA]

Me being in the military might make this more difficult, but I've only been contacted by them once after I told them I was interested. I replied stating that I'm already enrolled in another university at this time, and was wondering if I could coordinate with TESC which of the classes I've taken can apply towards the BSBA degree I was interested in (General Management). I haven't heard back from them for about 2 days now.

Do they tend to get real busy, or did I do something wrong? I still plan to apply to them; I'm just concerned as I'm already enrolled as a transfer student in one school and I'm considering knocking out two degrees instead of one depending on what I can take now will transfer over to TESC as well.

[soliloquy]

When I tried to contact them with questions I received a response within 24 hours but the response was canned. This is all I got.

_______________________________________________

Thank you for your interest in Thomas Edison State College.

We accept up to 80 hours of credit in transfer from regionally accredited 2 year colleges and up to 120 hours of credit in transfer from regionally accredited 4 year colleges. We honor certain certificates and licenses as well as offer programs through which your previously earned college-level knowledge may be translated into college credit, including credit by exam and prior learning assessment. You will find information on ways to earn credit by logging onto our website at College Education for Adults at Thomas Edison State College and following the Academics link to the Earning Credit for What You Already know link. We will require that the application process is complete and that official transcripts are received prior to an evaluation. We do not offer unofficial evaluations, evaluations are completed by our evaluators once your application has been accepted and your official transcripts have been received. However, at this point in the process you may find it beneficial to speak directly with an Admissions Counselor for guidance with your records and your goals. You may do so by calling our office toll-free at 1-888-442-8372.


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Jacqueline Hutchinson



Admissions Counselor

Thomas Edison State College

(888) 442-8372

College Education for Adults at Thomas Edison State College

[BIPolarGuy]

Personally, I had great experiences with the TESC staff. My best luck though was by calling them directly. Email was a bit slow from 2-3 days. The enrollment advisors were very helpful for me. Ymmv

[ronaldemail1]

For me the experience was quite good, I only needed to call them a couple of times over the phone and at least ten times by email.
Having experienced a Brick and Mortar institution before them, I would say that they were quite responsive and extremely helpful.
I am so happy with them that I might return to get a Second Bachelor next year.

[soliloquy]

I never called after the email. I've already applied and sent transcripts so I'm hoping for a positive experience. I haven't judged them by that one email.

[JohnnyHeck]

Two degrees from 2 separate schools could get tricky. You should review the catalogs of both schools on the subject of dual degrees. In your scenario (separate degree granting schools) some of the info will not strictly apply to you. However, you can get a flavor of what the issues are concerning the granting of second bachelor's degrees from accredited institutions. In general, you must end up with 30 non overlapping credit hours for each degree. If one degree is say a BA History from School A and the other is a BSBA from TESC, I don't think you will have too much of a problem of coming afoul of the rules because the bachelors are coming from separate fields with the overlap primarily in Gen-Ed. Once you pay your application fee to TESC and they have all your transcripts and give you an initial credit evaluation (takes up to 6 weeks) you can get more specific answers from them at this help desk ticketed email: registration@tesc.edu You will also be able to play some "what-if" degree scenarios on your own

[publius2k4]

My experience with the TESC admissions team was always very vague....they would give me a generic answer, followed with a sales pitch about how they could be more helpful once I'd paid the admissions fee. It was for this very reason that I didn't choose TESC over COSC. With COSC, I was always treated as if me earning my education was the important issue, not me enrolling and paying the money. I was never a "number" on a "trouble ticket" with Charter Oak. In fact, nearly every Monday, Charter Oak hosts a Q and A session online where prospective students can sign in and ask questions. I'd be willing to bet that you could sign in to the session tomorrow, and an admissions counselor would answer that specific question on the spot for you.

On the BAin4weeks website, a COSC graduate named Roger Habeck was quoted as saying he chose Charter Oak because "I found TESC less than cooperative, and Charter Oak acted as if I was the long lost child finally come home."

And that is exactly how it felt to me.

There are users who report vastly different experiences, but these were mine.

[soliloquy]

Thank you for that. I have applied with both of them so we'll see which is the best way to go in the end. Because of recent experiences with TESC I have been leaning more and more towards COSC myself. But for me what it really boils down to is who is going to make the best use of the 121 credit I now have.

[sanantone]

I've noticed that TESC's customer service has improved since I graduated. People's experiences do vary by situation. I applied to all of the Big 3 schools. Not only did Excelsior give a very vague evaluation, they act like some kind of spy agency when you try to extract information from them before enrolling. COSC's evaluation was clear, but not nearly as detailed as TESC's. My community college was having technical issues, so it took them a long time to send my transcripts. COSC and Excelsior went ahead and did my evaluation even though I asked them to wait. Once you receive that one evaluation, that's it. COSC said they couldn't tell me how those CC credits would transfer over until I enrolled. I'm trying to remember if I told TESC to wait, but they give 2 evaluations, so it didn't matter. I think they wait for all of the transcripts to come in anyway.

TESC's advisors are or were often rude. It wasn't and probably still isn't uncommon to get erroneous information from them over the phone. I usually got accurate information through email. COSC's people are extremely friend, but I noticed that they couldn't answer my very detailed questions. I contacted several people by phone and email and couldn't get a clear answer for how GRE Subject Tests transfer. The best answer I received is that they fill up concentration electives. They couldn't tell me which courses I would get credit for either in the biology concentration or individualized studies concentration. But, I guess that's not very different from how TESC couldn't tell me how Uexcels and ECEs would transfer over. Well, it wasn't that they couldn't; they just wouldn't. They don't have an equivalency chart made for these exams, so they have to be evaluated one-by-one.

[dmar001]

They're very responsive takes between 1- 3 days to get answers through the help desk ticket. I know the first 3 months I was hounding them with questions and they answered everyone.