Sophia English Comp 1 Touchstone Issue

[dfrecore]

Wow, they've allowed the max of 5 just like Study.com, interesting, the most I read previously was 4 at Sophia.org - I guess they're that backed up in the touchstone grading.

Study.com doesn't have a max of 5 courses open at once, they have a max of 5 final exams you can take per month.  I have about 20 courses open at once all the time, and can open as many as I want.

[bjcheung77]

Wow, they've allowed the max of 5 just like Study.com, interesting, the most I read previously was 4 at Sophia.org - I guess they're that backed up in the touchstone grading.

Study.com doesn't have a max of 5 courses open at once, they have a max of 5 final exams you can take per month.  I have about 20 courses open at once all the time, and can open as many as I want.

Yeah, I have a few courses on my account as well... I was missing a word in the sentence above, 5 exams/month. Essentially, that's the max they'll let you complete in a month is 5. I had 7 lower level courses completed on Study.com in a month when the incorporated that change, as I was overlapping the month and courses of the months combined.

[uncapentin]

I'm going to throw out my 2 cents. if doing Sophia English courses, USE THE TUTOR tab. Having the tutor read my rough essay really helped me sort out a few kinks and they'll give advice similar to the graders which helps even more. I had a grader from hell on a paper. They gave me a 0 and I received no feed back. As it turns out, there was a glitch that caused my essay to be completely out of format and all over the place. The same glitch caused their feedback to be lost. I ended up have to contact support, tried to show them what I submitted was in fact formatted okay and sent them what my grader had sent me.....anyway, it ended up graded by someone else and I passed fine. On another essay, the grader didn't "agree" with my topic or stance on said topic. Their opinion of my topic affected how they graded my paper. Not kidding.  So, I contacted support and asked for it to be graded by someone that would follow their own rubric and not grade based on their dislike of my topic. It worked and I got good feed back. I really wanted the feedback as my intention was to actually learn from both courses. All said, I enjoyed both English courses . Advocate for yourself .

[bjcheung77]

@uncapetin, great tip! I never knew you could go to another grader, I think you can resubmit for a higher grade but didn't know of requesting a different grader. Now if I ever wanted to, I'll know that is an option for me when I decide to upgrade my assignments or essays that I want a better mark in... Thanks for sharing this!

[arrakis]

I'm going to throw out my 2 cents. if doing Sophia English courses, USE THE TUTOR tab. Having the tutor read my rough essay really helped me sort out a few kinks and they'll give advice similar to the graders which helps even more. I had a grader from hell on a paper. They gave me a 0 and I received no feed back. As it turns out, there was a glitch that caused my essay to be completely out of format and all over the place. The same glitch caused their feedback to be lost. I ended up have to contact support, tried to show them what I submitted was in fact formatted okay and sent them what my grader had sent me.....anyway, it ended up graded by someone else and I passed fine. On another essay, the grader didn't "agree" with my topic or stance on said topic. Their opinion of my topic affected how they graded my paper. Not kidding.  So, I contacted support and asked for it to be graded by someone that would follow their own rubric and not grade based on their dislike of my topic. It worked and I got good feed back. I really wanted the feedback as my intention was to actually learn from both courses. All said, I enjoyed both English courses . Advocate for yourself .

Good to know this. Thank you for sharing. I already rewrote the whole essay and submitted.    As you and others have shared, grading is all over the place for this course. Another grader gave me detailed, very specific feedback on another essay, same course. Motivated me to be more diligent and I did the absolute best I could. 
Sophia support did say that more than likely, when resubmitted, some other grader will pick it up. They said it just goes into a queue. Whoever is free picks it up. Like Uber rides, I guess.

[studyingfortests]

Honestly, with all the issues with English at Sophia, I don't understand why anyone would take it there, unless it's just a "because it's cheap" thing.

If the school where one is earning one's degree accepts CLEP, that's the route to go in a heartbeat (at least, in my opinion.) If not, I can't imagine that TECEP or ONU or something wouldn't be a much better option unless one is on just such a tight budget that something like one of these isn't an option.

[Chankosumo]

Hello.
Reading uncapentin's last post makes me ask a question I that has been bugging me for quite some time. I have seen the suggestions that if we have not taken any English Composition classes before (like me) UMPI should be the best option. And I certainly believe it must be as I have read that some folks have done each class in less than a week. Now, let us look at it from a little different perspective - what if the goal, just like uncapentin mentioned, is to actually learn from the courses. Take me for an example - a non-native English speaker with close to no experience in writing papers or essays or anything that should contain a more academic language (which I probably will have to if I am to take 10+ classes in UMPI for example, right?). So, not to make this post too long - what would be the best English Composition 1 and 2 provider if the end goal is not speed and ease but LEARNING? Is UMPI sufficient in terms of feedback? What about ONU, does anyone have experience with their English classes? Or, is the clearly tough Sophia English the best option in such specific case? Can a 2 (or even 3?) months Sophia course be justified if the goal is to learn?
Thanks!

[rachel83az]

Hello.
Reading uncapentin's last post makes me ask a question I that has been bugging me for quite some time. I have seen the suggestions that if we have not taken any English Composition classes before (like me) UMPI should be the best option. And I certainly believe it must be as I have read that some folks have done each class in less than a week. Now, let us look at it from a little different perspective - what if the goal, just like uncapentin mentioned, is to actually learn from the courses. Take me for an example - a non-native English speaker with close to no experience in writing papers or essays or anything that should contain a more academic language (which I probably will have to if I am to take 10+ classes in UMPI for example, right?). So, not to make this post too long - what would be the best English Composition 1 and 2 provider if the end goal is not speed and ease but LEARNING? Is UMPI sufficient in terms of feedback? What about ONU, does anyone have experience with their English classes? Or, is the clearly tough Sophia English the best option in such specific case? Can a 2 (or even 3?) months Sophia course be justified if the goal is to learn?
Thanks!

For learning, I would recommend paying the $25 course fee for ASU. Go through the course(s), but don't bother to pay the $400 transcription fee at the end. The ASU courses are a lot of work, but that should be good for your needs. Then, you can take English Comp at UMPI for actual credit.

[uncapentin]

@uncapetin, great tip!  I never knew you could go to another grader,  I think you can resubmit for a higher grade but didn't know of requesting a different grader.  Now if I ever wanted to, I'll know that is an option for me when I decide to upgrade my assignments or essays that I want a better mark in... Thanks for sharing this!

BJ, I don't now about resubmitting for a higher grade once your final essay is submitted but I assume it's possible. In my case, I was able to contact the first grader that gave me a 0 and I received no feed back. They wouldn't address the issue which is why I went to support. I had used the tutor for the essay, followed their advice and used the rubric closely. I KNEW something wasn't right. There was some kind of technical glitch between me submitting through google docs using  Chromebook and their computer on the graders end. Once resubmitted via another outlet and another grader, it was good.  In the case of the "offended" grader who graded only based on their opinion of the topic and not the rubric, I wasn't going to let that fly. Again I had used the tutor, followed advice and followed the rubric closely. I was really challenging myself with that particular essay and wanted constructive feedback. The grader didn't give any based on the rubric. No help at all. So I went to support and asked for a new grader. They gave it to someone else who followed the rubric and gave me good feedback. I wasn't after the highest grade since I knew it wouldn't affect any GPA. I did want to pass of course, but wanted the feedback to prepare me for higher level writing. For other graders on other essays in each English course, I got great feedback.

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I'm going to throw out my 2 cents. if doing Sophia English courses, USE THE TUTOR tab. Having the tutor read my rough essay really helped me sort out a few kinks and they'll give advice similar to the graders which helps even more. I had a grader from hell on a paper. They gave me a 0 and I received no feed back. As it turns out, there was a glitch that caused my essay to be completely out of format and all over the place. The same glitch caused their feedback to be lost. I ended up have to contact support, tried to show them what I submitted was in fact formatted okay and sent them what my grader had sent me.....anyway, it ended up graded by someone else and I passed fine. On another essay, the grader didn't "agree" with my topic or stance on said topic. Their opinion of my topic affected how they graded my paper. Not kidding.  So, I contacted support and asked for it to be graded by someone that would follow their own rubric and not grade based on their dislike of my topic. It worked and I got good feed back. I really wanted the feedback as my intention was to actually learn from both courses. All said, I enjoyed both English courses . Advocate for yourself .

Good to know this. Thank you for sharing. I already rewrote the whole essay and submitted.    As you and others have shared, grading is all over the place for this course. Another grader gave me detailed, very specific feedback on another essay, same course. Motivated me to be more diligent and I did the absolute best I could. 
Sophia support did say that more than likely, when resubmitted, some other grader will pick it up. They said it just goes into a queue. Whoever is free picks it up. Like Uber rides, I guess.

  You're welcome. Since you're still in the throws of their English course, if you have more essays, use the tutor, use the tutor, use the tutor. The feedback is good and you can actually chat back and forth with questions. It's a great help. One grader had given me feedback that I couldn't grasp. Once the tutor figured out what the grader meant, I was able to rewrite a few things and it went fine. Good luck going forward !

[uncapentin]

Hello.
Reading uncapentin's last post makes me ask a question I that has been bugging me for quite some time. I have seen the suggestions that if we have not taken any English Composition classes before (like me) UMPI should be the best option. And I certainly believe it must be as I have read that some folks have done each class in less than a week. Now, let us look at it from a little different perspective - what if the goal, just like uncapentin mentioned, is to actually learn from the courses. Take me for an example - a non-native English speaker with close to no experience in writing papers or essays or anything that should contain a more academic language (which I probably will have to if I am to take 10+ classes in UMPI for example, right?). So, not to make this post too long - what would be the best English Composition 1 and 2 provider if the end goal is not speed and ease but LEARNING? Is UMPI sufficient in terms of feedback? What about ONU, does anyone have experience with their English classes? Or, is the clearly tough Sophia English the best option in such specific case? Can a 2 (or even 3?) months Sophia course be justified if the goal is to learn?
Thanks!

   I only have experience with Sophia Foundations of English Comp, English Comp I , English Comp II and a Community College English 111 course I helped tutor my son through. I would believe the English courses through UMPI , ONU and ASU would be fine. Here's how I see it. if your intention is to actually learn how to write or be a better writer, you can learn from any of the courses. I know Sophia English is getting a bad wrap due to some bad experiences with a handful of graders, but that doesn't mean they should be written off. Most of us with bad experiences were doing these courses throughout the C* pandemic, which I can't help but think may have played a small part in some issues. It wouldn't be unusual to be doing a butt in the seat/brick and mortar English class and have a jerk for a professor who would grade unfairly. What would you do in that case, as an adult student ? Would you suck it up and move on or challenge the professor and demand feedback that would help you grow as a writer ? I was doing Sophia English during the free period....I still wanted my time to matter. 
    I would say, yes, a 2 or 3 month course with Sophia is justified especially if you are concurrently doing other courses. I would even believe you could do both I and II in 3 months if working hard at it. If it takes 5-6 months and you complete 70 credits....it's still justified to me. Is it justified to take the ASU course for $25 to learn and then retake it at UMPI ? Sure, it could be justified and a great help at UMPI since those courses will count toward your GPA. I've heard good and bad things about Study . com English, but I'd bet you can learn from that one too. We can justify many paths, but it ultimately lies in your court. What path can you justify ? Look at cost, time and how you want to apply the end result. Which ever route you take, utilize tutors. They are there to help. Search for essays online and read several. Pay attention to how they flow, how they're presented and grammar. Good luck to you on your path toward a degree !