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+--- Thread: English Comp 1 - Avoid Penn Foster (/Thread-English-Comp-1-Avoid-Penn-Foster)
English Comp 1 - Avoid Penn Foster - rowan555 - 05-21-2018
If for some strange reason anyone was considering knocking out Composition I via Penn Foster, I just want to say - don't do it! My son is completing his high school diploma program with 5 early college courses through Penn Foster, and the English Composition course has been more time consuming and more of a pain than any ACE approved course my other son took - and he earned 90 or so credits that way. His course includes:
4 Tests
18 Journal Entries ranging from 3 paragraphs to 6 or more paragraphs each. A few of these took him well over an hour to complete.
2 Pre-Writing assignments which the graders love to return numerous times. The assignments are a bit poorly explained which doesn't help.
3 Essays ranging from 1200 to 1800 words, including one research paper.
2 Live Webinars which are held 2 to 3 times a month and last form 90 minutes to 2 hours each. You have to close all other applications and "participate" throughout the webinar to receive a passing grade. If you have, say, Facebook open in the background during the webinar you receive a warning that you didn't pass and you must write a 3 paragraph essay on the webinar to change that.
I love writing, and I think developing writing skills is extremely important - but this is just over the top in every way. If you are, for some reason, taking a few Penn Foster college courses, take something else - and take your composition course at Straighterline or Study. My son had been planning to get his associates degree with Penn Foster, but after this he wants nothing to do with them.
RE: English Comp 1 - Avoid Penn Foster - msganti - 05-21-2018
I completed my high school at Penn Foster too - same early college option but with CIS electives.
I joined the PF Associates (CIS) degree, but I don't have ENG Comp in first semester. But you got me scared now.
RE: English Comp 1 - Avoid Penn Foster - rowan555 - 05-21-2018
(05-21-2018, 03:12 PM)msganti Wrote: I completed my high school at Penn Foster too - same early college option but with CIS electives.
I joined the PF Associates (CIS) degree, but I don't have ENG Comp in first semester. But you got me scared now.
I mean, you will get through it - it's just a lot of work compared to other iterations of this course. And I shudder to think what Composition II is like.
RE: English Comp 1 - Avoid Penn Foster - cookderosa - 05-23-2018
wow- over the top is an understatement!!
RE: English Comp 1 - Avoid Penn Foster - rowan555 - 05-23-2018
(05-23-2018, 12:36 PM)cookderosa Wrote: wow- over the top is an understatement!!
And it takes up to 10 days for each item to be graded, often double that because they will return it rather than just issuing a B or C and ask you to re-do it. Then you have to get back in the queue. My son is waiting on his last essay to be graded so he can graduate and be done with Penn Foster.
RE: English Comp 1 - Avoid Penn Foster - cookderosa - 05-23-2018
(05-23-2018, 12:49 PM)rowan555 Wrote:(05-23-2018, 12:36 PM)cookderosa Wrote: wow- over the top is an understatement!!
And it takes up to 10 days for each item to be graded, often double that because they will return it rather than just issuing a B or C and ask you to re-do it. Then you have to get back in the queue. My son is waiting on his last essay to be graded so he can graduate and be done with Penn Foster.
wow....just wow. Thanks for the heads up!!
RE: English Comp 1 - Avoid Penn Foster - mudball - 05-23-2018
I highly recommend Ed4credit for Eng comp II for anyone that struggles with writing. My son hates writing and did not hate this class. I think he actually learned more than he did in any in other writing classes because it was broken down into simple steps and so straightforward. If I recall correctly, there were 8 sections all consisting of a reading, quiz, and assignment. The assignments all led up to one final draft of a research paper (around 1500 words I think). They even had a recording of the reading assignments and he just listened and followed the text. The 9th section was the final exam.
Rowan555, how was Ed4credits Managing Information Systems? I was thinking of having my son take that class. Did your son take it after the changes 3/1/18 or before?
RE: English Comp 1 - Avoid Penn Foster - rowan555 - 05-23-2018
My younger son is going to just do the rest of his associates degree courses at Ashworth, otherwise I'd look into Ed4Credit. My older son had no problems with the MIS course - he wanted to knock that one out prior to enrolling at WGU even though it turned out he'd have had plenty of time to finish it in his one term there. He said it wasn't bad at all, it was very straightforward and didn't have any busywork. I can't recall if he took it before or after 3/1 but I'll ask him to check.