Why Charter Oak State College is better than Thomas Edison State College

[KittenMittens]

Way too many assumptions all round.

Like taking two courses at COSC...even though courses are 'stupid'
Or taking PF courses, yup they are much faster than TECEPs

TESC requires only one course to complete. A course that can be tested out of, using a TECEP that you could easily pass (but it's too hard for everyone else) or even taking a cheaper/easier course elsewhere.

If courses are a waste of time then doesn't that make TESC the path of least resistance?

Sometimes people have no idea when others are trying to help them by pointing out flaws in their approach. Reflective thought is a blessing.

Having to take two (easy) courses through COSC is a downside of COSC, but it comes out cheaper by about $500 - $1000 compared to TESC’s “enrolled option” program. Just because I was forced to take 2 courses through COSC, doesn’t mean I was thrilled taking them - I still think they were a waste of time especially the cornerstone course which is just hogwash - you have to do silly discussion assignments and discuss what you hope to get out of your degree at COSC - but they gotta make their money somehow. But doing similar/same coursework through both programs - COSC is still cheaper and trying to keep costs as possible was part of the equation as well.

Penn Foster courses can and most often are faster than TECEPs for the fact that all the answers are on the internet, many exams have no proctor, and the coursework can be completed in a day or two. They provide you with course pamphlets where you can learn everything you need to pass and most likely get an A or B in the course. Penn Foster is notorious for that kind of stuff which is why people do it - it's also really cheap for the course. I don’t think I’d be able to pass the TECEP in Strategic Management that easily without sufficient prep which would include reading a textbook from cover to cover which would be pretty painful and take a long time. I guess if I didn't want to spend $237 for a PF course, and spend only $110 to save $127 plus money for a textbook, it might be slightly worth it but meh. That’s because they take test questions out of a particular edition of a particular textbook which forces you to read like 600 pages which is just sheer pain and agony for most people. It's like reading the white pages and regurgitating names from it for some exam.

TESC would be the ideal path, except for the fact that doing 8 TECEPs is probably too much work for most people if going for the “per credit” plan. I suppose someone could do the TESC’s “enrolled option” avoid taking any coursework or TECEPs and take PF Strategic Management to quickly/easily get credit for that requirement. That could work - it would be better than COSC if a student wants to avoid any coursework altogether but it will cost another $500-$1000 for that. So yes, if you want to spend $7,000 for the program through TESC versus $6,000 through COSC to avoid any TESC courses or COSC courses, then that’s an option, but I tried to keep cost in mind. Like I've said, if TESC came down a little in price, I would urge people to go for TESC in a heart beat (for their "enrolled options" plan). Make it like $2800 not $3250 for the year "membership fee."

Note: On the instantcert forum, there are I think 16 TECEP topics, which either have no feedback, little feedback, or old feedback from like 6 years ago. The Excelsior exams that are covered are recent as of 2015.

Excelsior Exams:

1) ECE Ethics - 200 comments - use IC cards (recent as of 2015) - people recommend IC cards and practice exams
2) Psychology of Adulthood and Aging ECE - 39 comments (recent as of 2015) - people recommend using IC cards and practice exams
3) Human Resource Management DSST and ECE - 85 comments (recent as of 2015) - recent as of late 2014/2015 - people recommend IC and practice exams are enough
4) Research Methods in Psychology ECE - 34 comments (recent as of 2015) - I think this is a harder exam as it’s more quantitative so I don’t recommend it, but IC may not be enough.
5) Social Psychology ECE - 27 comments (recent as of 2015) - people recommend doing a thorough indepth review of IC and practice exam should be enough, but probably one of the harder ones. Some textbook use may be needed.
6) Organizational Behavior - ECE - 27 comments - (recent as of late 2014) - people recommend IC cards and practice exams
7) Abnormal Psychology ECE - 37 comments - comment as recent as mid 2014 - probably avoid
8) Labor Relations ECE - 19 comments - IC cards and practice exams are enough

COMPARE TO


TECEP Exams:

1) TECEP Operations Management - 13 posts
2) TECEP Federal Income Taxation - 5 posts - someone recommend reading a 250 page IRS tax code. Jesus Christ.
3) TECEP Strategic - 0 posts
4) TECEP Business Policy - People recommend reading a 13 chapter textbook.
5) TECEP Technical Writing - 5 posts - People say it’s straightforward, but why do it when you can do CLEP instead?
6) TECEP Sales Management - 3 posts, last post in 2009, someone says that TECEPS are way harder than CLEPs/DSSTs
7) TECEP Business Society - Last post was in 2008 - have to read textbook
8) TECEP International Finance - 3 posts, last one in 2008 - read textbook
9) TECEP Thanatology - 1 posts from a long time ago, Read textbook
10) TECEP Marketing Research - 1 post from 2008
11) TECEP Science of Nutrition - Read a textbook, last post in 2008…
12) TECEP Intro to Computer Info Systems - Last post in 2007 people recommend reading textbook if you don’t have a strong background
13) TECEP Public Relations - Read textbook
14) TECEP Operations Management - 13 posts - use IC and read textbook
15) TECEP Abnormal Psychology - 1 comment
16) TECEP Psychology of Women - Read textbook

Here’s an example of the typical TECEP exam that someone wrote about in the exam forum (note: TECEP advice is scarce in the exam forum though there is a lot of advice for CLEP, DSST, and UExcel).

“TECEP Advertising today.

Since it was my first TECEP, I was a little nervous. Let me say that I wholeheartedly concur with the other posters that this exam was horribly worded, and the four answer choices were incredibly ambiguous. So many of the questions could have had more than one correct answer. I thought CLEP and DSST tests were ambiguous, but they are not, compared with this TECEP. Usually, I don't mind taking tests, but I was pretty frustrated by the end of this one because of the lack of clarity.

However, I feel pretty confident that I passed, since you only need to answer 60 of the 100 questions correctly to pass.

I took CLEP Marketing recently, so there was a little bit of overlap in the material. To study for the TECEP, I bought William Arens' Contemporary Advertising textbook (11th ed.) used from Amazon, for less than $10, including S&H. The textbook was first-class, and was actually a pretty enjoyable read because of all the advertisement examples and illustrations. I studied over a period of two weeks, although I probably only studied six days, no more than four to five hours a day.

I did NOT read the textbook slowly, but used speed reading techniques since the book has over 600 pages. I answered the end-of-chapter questions for the first five chapters or so, but then stopped because it was taking too long.


One thing I recommend doing before the test is to read the chapter summaries at the end of each chapter to get a "big-picture" recap of what you have previously read....A very helpful feature. I did study the official 20 sample questions, and several of them showed up on the actual test.”

Overall, the people who took TECEPs generally read a 600 page book from end to end which generally takes a couple to few weeks to do. That's very meticulous and mind numbing. A lot of people with the Excelsior exams agree that you can study in a day or two using flash cards, and practice exams (which cost like $25) and pass.


I think that's very meaningful; in addition to what others have generally stated about TECEPs being a pain in the ass, and time consuming to study for, there is little feedback from people who prepared from the exams. That in combination with lack of review materials, practice exams, and 92% of TECEP exams having no instantcert flash cards (which have been proven to be invaluable for CLEP, DSST, and UExcel exams to the point where people could study a few hours for an exam and pass!), makes TECEP the least desirable option for the efficient student who wants to rapidly accumulate upper level credits to complete a standard liberal arts or business degree (because many of the easier UExcel can satisfy a business admin degree).

Instantcert didn't make stuff for TECEP because of how few people do that stuff. You can see it on the front page of instantcert.com where there's literally only 1 or 2 submitted test result for the 3 TECEPs available whereas each UExcel exam has like 50 submitted test results with people generally passing at over 95% high rates.

That speaks volumes.

Opinions are one thing, but opinions backed by solid data is even more powerful.