StraighterLine courses not transferred into my degree plan.

[Daithi]

I recently sent in all the courses I took via StraighterLine, ALEKS, CLEP, and DSST. For some unknown reason they didn't accept several of the StraighterLine courses on my transcript (with no explanation). In case someone else experiences this problem, I thought I would post how I am handling the situation.

I sent the following email to academicadvising@tesc.edu--

I received my evaluation back for a BA in Liberal Studies (I'm under the 2012-13 catalog). Everything looked good except that several of my StraighterLine courses weren't included in the evaluation. A DSST course was also missing from my evaluation.

Those courses are as follows--

StraighterLine Western Civilization I, which should transcribe as HIS-101 and satisfies Gen. Ed. Social Sciences.
StraighterLine Western Civilization II, which should transcribe as HIS-102 and satisfies Gen. Ed. Social Sciences.
StraighterLine Introductory Psychology, which should transcribe as PSY-101 and satisfies Gen. Ed. Social Sciences.
StraighterLine Introductory Sociology, which should transcribe as SOC-101 and satisfies Gen. Ed. Social Sciences.
StraighterLine U.S. History I, which should transcribe as HIS-113 and satisfies Gen. Ed. Electives.
StraighterLine U.S. History II, which should transcribe as HIS-114 and satisfies Gen. Ed. Electives.
StraighterLine Introduction to Criminal Justice, which should transcribe as AOJ-102 and satisfies Gen. Ed. Electives.
StraighterLine Business Communications, which should transcribe as COM-300 and satisfies Area of Study - Upper Level.
DSST Introduction to World Religions, which should transcribe as REL-405 and satisfies Area of Study - Upper Level.

Additionally, your evaluation has my StraighterLine Organizational Behavior transcribed as MAN-311 and in the Gen. Ed. Social Sciences section. I've been told it can transcribe as PSY-361 and satisfies Area of Study - Upper Level.

Thank you so much,
[my name]
College ID#: [my college id]

I tried to be as helpful as possible in assisting the advisor with matching courses to the TESC equivalents. This is the email I received back a day later--

We have solved your issue--

Hello [my name],

I sent an email to the Registrar's office to inquire about the Straighterline credits. I moved MAN-311 to the AOS.

I wouldn't exactly say this has solved my issue, but I'll give it a few days to see if they award me the credits for my courses, but nothing so far. They also didn't change MAN-311 to PSY-361. I'm not sure if MAN-311 counts as a Liberal Arts course and applies to my Area Of Study, but if they are putting in the AOS (i.e. Area Of Study) then I won't say anything unless they later say it doesn't count.

I'll keep people apprised of how this goes.

[Daithi]

Oh, if anyone else has had issues with courses not getting included into their evaluation, I hope you would post your experiences as well.

[ironheadjack]

I never had any problems with SL courses not being included on my transcript but they did transcribe organization behavior as MAN-311, I sent an email and they changed it to PSY-361.

If I were you I would send all emails to registrar@tesc.edu for approval, I've read that academic advisers can make certain decisions.....only to later be changed by the registrar. They have the final word.

I have never spoken to an academic adviser, I created my own degree plan and if I needed approval beforehand I always emailed the registrar.

[Daithi]

Thanks, ironheadjack.

[cookderosa]

I never had any problems with SL courses not being included on my transcript but they did transcribe organization behavior as MAN-311, I sent an email and they changed it to PSY-361.

If I were you I would send all emails to registrar@tesc.edu for approval, I've read that academic advisers can make certain decisions.....only to later be changed by the registrar. They have the final word.

I have never spoken to an academic adviser, I created my own degree plan and if I needed approval beforehand I always emailed the registrar.

Ironhead, do you know if it's still possible to have the academic advisor "plan in" the courses ahead? That used to be a good way to avoid this kind of thing, however, I thought I heard something a while back that they were no longer allowing students to "plan in" and I haven't been a student for a while to check for myself.

[Daithi]

I think I should mention why I didn't "plan in" my courses before hand. Basically, I used TESC's catalog and website, along with degreeforum.net, to plan my own degree. I was not enrolled at TESC -- so no opportunity to "plan in" courses. When TESC announced they were going to be making changes to their General Ed. requirements, I "applied" to TESC to lock in to the existing (at the time) degree requirements, but I still wasn't "enrolled" yet. I continued taking courses during this time. It was only after having taken about 85% of the courses I needed that I actually enrolled. Even then I hadn't sent my transcripts to TESC, because that would result in transcript fees. I've since finished all the courses I should need, so I paid the fees to have my transcripts sent to TESC. TESC then did my evaluation, which is where I'm at now.

[ironheadjack]

I'm not sure if a planning service is offered, if it is I never used it. As I said I never worked with an academic adviser. I created my own degree plan and worked off that.

The one time I called and spoke with an adviser I was asking about Penn Foster equivalencies, the woman said they don't plan PF courses because they lose ACE approval. After trying to explain to her how ACE actually works, unsuccessfully, I gave up.

I emailed my question to the registrar and had all of my PF equivalencies within a day.

[Getiton1]

Good Luck Daithi,

TESC is super liberal with their transfer in policy, especially right from the get go. I had all but my library study classes and one nursing course (it was an overlap) transfer in. I think you will be happy when they come back with what they transfer in. Even if they don't take every single class, TESC is so much less expensive than Harvard and some other universities (as you thoughtfully mentioned in another post). A lot of the BS College game is proving how much BS you can put up with. My grandfather was an MIT Alumni and he told me that when I was a kid. He was right. Stay steady and focused and you will earn your prize without going into mega debt.

I think we are going to start seeing a major increase in enrollment in the big 3 over the next decade. I am already seeing more and more people onboard with CLEP. Sure it's nice to be a Harvard or MIT graduate, but it's not like it was even 20 years ago...it's SO MUCH MORE EXPENSIVE...and going from no degree (and thus likely a lower income) and into massive debt just to spend 5 or more years digging yourself out of it, doesn't seem like a fun or smart idea to me. If one had a free scholarship or other situation (like a rich uncle) paying for it, yeah, I would do it. But I just think KNOWING something and how to apply that knowledge is way more important than what school you leaned that information from. That's just my humble opinion though

It takes them a while to actually put the credits on your evaluation, but I can't wait to see how you make out with TESC!!!!

Best of Luck,
Tara

[Lemurian_Spirit]

Any word on this? I was about to take the SL Sociology course and stopped in my tracks until I could talk with TESC--which I did today and confirmed that it counts as SOC-101. Please let us know how things go and whether you get all the credits due you.

[Daithi]

I gave them a week to get it right, but they still haven't yet. So, I took Ironheadjack's advice and emailed the registrar this morning. We'll see how that goes.