Please help, transfer credit question

[sghatte]

I am trying to transfer clep and dsst credit to Patten to finish my associates degree in general studies with a concentration in business and hoping someone might be able to help me.

Do most accredited universities apply transfer credit based the type of course and not the exact course listed in the degree map?

For instance, I thought if I have a Sociology course in my degree map, a social science clep/dsst should cover it since Sociology is a social science.
(was my thinking) (HUM to HUM, BUS to BUS, ENG to ENG without having to be exact)

They are telling me that the Social Science and History clep will not satisfy their requirement of Sociology and Ancient history,
that Analyzing and interpreting lit won't satisfy their Interdisciplinary reading, writing and research and that Personal Finance won't satisfy a business course requirement.

Should I look to finish up my associates at TESC or Excelsior instead? Trying to find the shortest route to completion if anyone can weigh in on how the credits below would equate at TESC, Excelsior etc...

Here is a run down of my credits:

18 semester hours from UC: English comp, Calculus, History of world civ, American Gov't, Chemistry, Psychology
12 semester hours at Patten: Intro to film, Communication, computer literacy, academic strategies
9 credit hours between clep (analyzing and interpreting lit (3), Social sciences and history (6)
6 credit hours dsst (Intro to business (3) and Personal finance (3)
2 credit hour free ethics course (The Institutes)

any help is appreciated, thanks!

[jsd]

They are telling me that the Social Science and History clep will not satisfy their requirement of Sociology and Ancient history,
that Analyzing and interpreting lit won't satisfy their Interdisciplinary reading, writing and research and that Personal Finance won't satisfy a business course requirement.

With the exception of the History requirement, this isn't very surprising. Social Science is too broad a field to cover such a specific requirement as Sociology, and knowing how to interpret literature is not the same as knowing how to research a topic, and personal finance is not the same as business accounting.

That being said, I don't think looking at other options like TESU (or Excelsior) is a bad move. SOunds like you're at Patten? I took a lot of classes at Patten and they left a bad taste in my mouth, but lots of people around here love Patten. However, TESU in particular (and likely Excelsior and COSC) are much more flexible in what you're able to transfer in, in my experience, because they have a broader range of degree options and accept electives. Patten wanted me to stick to a specific degree plan, with no room for electives. I am 9 credits (3 courses) away from a BA at TESU, where at Patten I'm about 30 credits (10 courses) away.

[dfrecore]

Every school is different in what they will accept, so you shouldn't be surprised when they won't take something that you think should be in that "area". They are usually pretty specific as to the exact course (or very close).

I will say that for TESU, they are flexible and yet particular at the same time about certain things. Academic Strategies will count as a Free Elective, not a Gen Ed. Intro to Business and Personal Finance are also free electives, they are too low-level to to into the business degrees. I think COSC might accept Intro to Business, but TESU will not.

I plugged your courses into the ASBA at TESU, and you still have 9 courses to take:
English Comp II, Public Speaking, a Diversity course, a math course, Financial Accounting, Managerial Accounting, Business Law, Principles of Management, and Principles of Marketing
And, 12 of your credits won't fit into the degree plan at all (the ASBA has only 3cr of Free Electives available).

You can take 4 TECEP's for $111 each to get your residency requirements met (English, Diversity, Accounting classes) and the rest can be met cheaply via ALEKS, Saylor, CLEP, DSST, SL, etc. But it's not a super-quick thing.

If you wanted to switch to the AA in Liberal Studies, you would only need 5 courses total - English Comp II, Public Speaking, a Diversity course, and 2 Free Electives. If you took 4 TECEP's and 1 DSST, the total to get the degree would be $931 (including application, exams and graduation fee). Not sure if it's cheaper just to stick with Patten at this point.

You can also see what Patten will take in particular to get those requirements met. Normally they will just tell you which exams WILL meet the requirements there.

[cookderosa]

I am trying to transfer clep and dsst credit to Patten to finish my associates degree in general studies with a concentration in business and hoping someone might be able to help me.

Do most accredited universities apply transfer credit based the type of course and not the exact course listed in the degree map?

For instance, I thought if I have a Sociology course in my degree map, a social science clep/dsst should cover it since Sociology is a social science.
(was my thinking) (HUM to HUM, BUS to BUS, ENG to ENG without having to be exact)

They are telling me that the Social Science and History clep will not satisfy their requirement of Sociology and Ancient history,
that Analyzing and interpreting lit won't satisfy their Interdisciplinary reading, writing and research and that Personal Finance won't satisfy a business course requirement.

Should I look to finish up my associates at TESC or Excelsior instead? Trying to find the shortest route to completion if anyone can weigh in on how the credits below would equate at TESC, Excelsior etc...

Here is a run down of my credits:

18 semester hours from UC: English comp, Calculus, History of world civ, American Gov't, Chemistry, Psychology
12 semester hours at Patten: Intro to film, Communication, computer literacy, academic strategies
9 credit hours between clep (analyzing and interpreting lit (3), Social sciences and history (6)
6 credit hours dsst (Intro to business (3) and Personal finance (3)
2 credit hour free ethics course (The Institutes)

any help is appreciated, thanks!

you don't have to change schools.
Here's how you plan it out- if they tell you the name of a course (Sociology) then you need that course. In this case, the CLEP Sociology is a match.
When they tell you X credit in a discipline (Social Science) then you can choose from the categories that they call social science (Sociology would then work, as would history, etc.)
Sometimes they are even more specific (US History, World History, European History, etc.) in which case you'd look for exams or classes in those categories.
When they tell you something more specific to their school, not necessarily a discipline (technology requirement, writing requirement, international such and such, etc.) then you'll need to talk with the school to find out exactly how to meet that requirement- because they are trying to align the student's degree with some specific competancies, and they'll probably have a narrow list in mind.

EDIT: I wanted to add that even if you did change schools, you'd still have the stress of degree planning. Figuring this out for TESU is no different than figuring it out for Patten. Be patient, you're getting it.

[sghatte]

Thank you jsd, dfrecore and Jennifer for taking the time to provide great advice and feedback. I think I am going to transfer my credits to TESU and see how they apply them for the AA in liberal studies. It looks like this would be the cheapest and quickest route at this point.

[cookderosa]

Thank you jsd, dfrecore and Jennifer for taking the time to provide great advice and feedback. I think I am going to transfer my credits to TESU and see how they apply them for the AA in liberal studies. It looks like this would be the cheapest and quickest route at this point.

you should do the math...I don't think it's going to be cheaper for an AA at TESU.

[sghatte]

Thanks again for your comments and advise!

I missed a couple of items on my break down of current credits. Would you mind to take a look?

You originally thought I would need English Comp, Diversity, public speaking and 2 free electives to fulfill requirements at TESU for an AA.

I missed that I had Psychology and English II at U.C. I have since taken a free cyber security course at TEEX for 2 credits as well.

Here is a complete break down of my credits:

University of Cincinnati Quarter credits

Freshmen English I 3
Freshman English II 3
Chemistry 4
Intro to Psychology 3
Trigonometry 3
Intro to American Politics 3
Intro to Calc I 3
Intro to Calc II 3
History of World Civ 3
Business Law I 3
U.C. Quarter credit total 31
Conversion to Semester hours total 20.646

Patten University Semester Credit hours

Academic Strategies 3
Communication 3
Computer Literacy 3
Intro to Film 3
Total Patten 12

The Institutes Semester Credit hours

Ethics and the CPCU Code of Professional Conduct (online course) (Ethics 312) 2
Total 2

TEEX Semester Credit hours

Cyber Security Online for Everyone - Non-Technical (Cyber 101) 2
Total 2

Clep Semester credit hours

Analyze and Interpret Lit 3
Social sciences and history 6
Total 9

DSST Semester credit hours

Personal Finance 3
Introduction to Business 3
Total 6

Total Semester Hours Combined 51.646