Starting Almost Completely Over at TESC

[barcotta]

Is this completely off base? I am pretty sure it works in theory, but can anyone confirm or refute this idea about Grad. school, all ethics aside.

You are getting a lot of great advice here. I haven't evaluated your plan in detail, but the phrase "all ethics aside" caught my eye. As someone who is likely older--but maybe no more wiser than you--I strongly advise you to eliminate that concept from this and all future evaluations. I am someone who is not afraid to take the unconventional course when evaluating possible solutions to issues, but I have found that it is ALWAYS best in the long run to keep everything above board. Your character is far more important than any degree. In this case, your plan looks fine to me. As far as grad school--I would reveal that you had some struggles during your first attempt at college and decided to start over to do it right. If you approach them properly, written or verbally, with your recent success under your belt and an explanation for what they are likely to see anyway, I would bet on a good result. Just my two cents. Have fun and good luck! God bless you!

Michael

[Tedium]

I'm in Louisiana and I have 77 credits. There are no institutions here with the flexibility that COSC offers and all would require a foreign language, which I will get to in due time, but am not ready for yet. Most of the Grad programs I have looked at seem to be pretty lenient about allowing you to make up FL deficiencies while you work on your MA, if they require it at all. A lot of MA English programs do, but many of the MFA programs don't.

I think I may be half way to the UL requirement for my Literature concentration. I have at least 9, one DSST and two courses, maybe more. We'll have to see if COSC accepts them as such. The capstone will be 3 more.

As far as the articulation agreements go, I think I will have to do a lot of searching, e-mailing, and calling. I definitely want most of my UL credits to be classes and not tests, so I'll do the DSSTs as a last resort if it comes to that. Thanks a lot for the links. They're a great start.

[Tedium]

You are getting a lot of great advice here. I haven't evaluated your plan in detail, but the phrase "all ethics aside" caught my eye. As someone who is likely older--but maybe no more wiser than you--I strongly advise you to eliminate that concept from this and all future evaluations. I am someone who is not afraid to take the unconventional course when evaluating possible solutions to issues, but I have found that it is ALWAYS best in the long run to keep everything above board. Your character is far more important than any degree. In this case, your plan looks fine to me. As far as grad school--I would reveal that you had some struggles during your first attempt at college and decided to start over to do it right. If you approach them properly, written or verbally, with your recent success under your belt and an explanation for what they are likely to see anyway, I would bet on a good result. Just my two cents. Have fun and good luck! God bless you!

Michael

Michael, you are absolutely right. I saw some Fs on my transcript and for a moment I saw my future slipping through my fingers and I freaked out a bit. I think that given a strong performance at COSC, a great GRE score, and a strong writing sample I will be able to get into a good program regardless of past failings.

Instead of "starting over" I am just going to transfer most of my credits and concentrate on upper level courses and getting my final 60 up to snuff. I'm capable of putting in the work and I'm really looking forward to proving it.

I am getting great advice and I appreciate all of it. You guys are always there in a pinch. Any one else feel free to chime in with amazing suggestions. As soon as I get my evaluation back from COSC, I will work up a road map to my degree. I figure it may help others interested in going to grad school in an English related field.

[rebel100]

No guarantee's but so long as there is an arguable chance that a course is related to English COSC is likely going to allow you to count it that way. Any degree attained from COSC is in fact a Liberal Studies degree. Your degree will simply state "Bachelor of Science" or "Bachelor of Arts". Your transcripts will reflect your concentration.

The Cornerstone course is designed to help you flesh out each remaining course in your plan and develop what COSC calls the CPS or Concentration Plan of Study. Once completed the CPS must be approved by the college...in other words you have a chance to argue for the inclusion of whatever you want to take....and they will likely accept it so long as it makes sense.

If I were you I would insure I had completed all of the COSC Gen Ed's, Plan for 18 credits UL in your concentration including the Capstone. Find 12 credits you like in a separate or related discipline (dual concentration) at the UL (History? Sociology? Business?) and any remaining free electives I would pick up for free via FEMA to make the 120 required to graduate. You are really close. With planning this can easily be done in the next academic year. A full PELL grant would likely cover all the cost.

I didn't graduate from a Florida school due to College Algebra and lack of two years foreign language. The language requirement has not come up in any of the Masters programs I applied to...even in Florida. I don't think you will ever need it for academic purposes.

[rebel100]

Oh...and all your UL don't have to be within your concentration. I think you need 18 within the focus and the other 12 can be outliers....but you will need 12 credits LL within the concentration to make a total of 30 in that concentration and a total of 30 credits at the UL. So you wouldn't even need to be specific with those 12 UL credits...they could be any outlier you fancy.

[rebel100]

This is a link to the COSC Master List of CBE Charter Oak State College - List of Exams

They don't show English as a field of study but do list Creative Writing and Literature Charter Oak State College - Concentrations (Majors) and Fields of Study

In Literature they still accept the GRE for credit Charter Oak State College - Literature

[Prloko]

I finally received a reponse from someone named "Adam". He said that there is a 15 credit limit, but he thinks there is none for the military and he is checking on it. Sounds a bit shady.

You know, it's weird. I thought it was an honest mistake at first that they did not list their CBE limits, but now I'm not so sure. I think they may be doing it in an attempt to rope in as many new recruits as possible.

FOR THE RECORD: SNHU only allows 15 CLEP or DSST credits, or "five classes" as they like to say. They agreed with me that the policy was not listed any where, and said that they would be making this policy visible for other prospective or current students. This was in Aug. or Sept. of last year and they have still refused to list it in the new handbook or on the website. I have informed them several times of this issue. I even did my homework before hand and asked two different advisers. They both said there was no limit. Lesson: Stay away from SNHU.

I'm so happy that you could avoid my mistake. I stuck with them because I thought that a BA in Creative Writing would be a good motivation for me to stick around and finish my degree. That was a huge, expensive mistake.

Why stay with or attend a school that is so deceptive? At that point reform, like I was trying to achieve, doesn't really go far enough. I would just advise everyone not to waste their time or money.

ETA: Thanks for the info on BYU IS. I don't mind if it is not a walk in the park, as long as I can get the credit I need.

[ryoder]

My advice is similar to the others. Be honest and transfer in your credits as is.
Complete your degree, warts and all, just like the rest of us. Your last 60 credits will matter the most.
If you have trouble getting into a certain program, work the problem as best you can. You can probably take a few graduate courses non-degree seeking or complete a graduate certificate. This will help you transfer into the program. In all cases, speak with the school about it once you finish or are close to finishing your bachelors degree.

[Tedium]

I finally received a reponse from someone named "Adam". He said that there is a 15 credit limit, but he thinks there is none for the military and he is checking on it. Sounds a bit shady.

Honestly, I wouldn't trust what they tell you on the phone either way. I got one phone and two e-mail confirmations telling me I could test out of up to 90 hours. It wasn't until I started my first term that my academic advisor told me the truth. Apparently not everyone who works there is aware of their policies. I would wait until they add a limit in writing to their website or catalog, just to be sure. Or else you just may end up wasting a lot of time.

They told me that I was the first person to ever bring up that issue, but I find that really hard to believe. Like I said, I think they are purposefully being vague to draw in more students. It's really a shame too because they have a lot of great looking programs.

My advice is similar to the others. Be honest and transfer in your credits as is.
Complete your degree, warts and all, just like the rest of us. Your last 60 credits will matter the most.
If you have trouble getting into a certain program, work the problem as best you can. You can probably take a few graduate courses non-degree seeking or complete a graduate certificate. This will help you transfer into the program. In all cases, speak with the school about it once you finish or are close to finishing your bachelors degree.

Already working on it, buddy. Thanks. I just checked and COSC received the last of my transcripts today, so I should know what all I will have to take to finish my degree when they complete my evaluation.

I was looking at taking 60 hours to finish out my degree, even though I will only need ~43. I was going to do most of them through consortium agreements with cheaper colleges to save a little money. That way I'll be able to have a more presentable GPA for any future grad schools. If that doesn't work, I was thinking about doing a grad certificate in adult education or copy editing, maybe. I was thinking I could teach some adult GED classes at the local CC after my Bachelor's and a certificate like that would only help my chances.

Does it seem like I am overdoing it with 60 credits? Should I just take my ~43 hours and spend that extra time and money on a grad certificate, since I may end up needing to get one anyway? What do you guys think?