The official guide to courses by Straighterline, Study, et al: We want YOUR input!

[CableGuy98]

Provider: Sophia Learning
Course: Introduction to Statistics
Course content: Short (7-9 minute) videos from three different instructors that cover the same material but different teaching styles. Also provided are PDF lessons if you want reference material to study/review. Of the three instructors, there was one who made the instruction crystal clear- you can mark the instructors as your "favorite" and their video will always appear first as you move through the assignments.
Final exam format: After completing all five (5) milestones, you have a final milestone which is a slight mixture of all material covered, but for me was more heavy on module 5 material. The final consisted of twenty-four (24) questions, multiple-choice. The exam is not proctored, but there is a typing verification that you must perform to verify your identity.
Final exam content vs course content/practice exams: The practice milestones were fairly close to what was on the final- there was an occasional same question on the final or same scenario with different values etc type problems.
Time taken on course: Start to finish in 16 days... it was grueling after the first 2 sections
Familiarity with subject before course: Took a Stats course in yesteryear and was reminded of why I dropped it- however, this course did clear a lot of things up- just made sense.
Pitfalls, high points, things others should know: Not an "Easy" course, but also not impossible... sections 1,2, and 4 were a breeze for me.. section 5 is the widow maker- grab a snickers and pack some patience, you'll get through it.
1-10 Difficulty level: I have to give this one about a 7, especially with the stress of staying above 70 through out the course.

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A BIG thank you for all of the reviews, especially the Straighterline classes as well as the other classes that might be a better choice for a BSBA at COSC. Starting with two CLEPS in August 2020 and will try to finish using SL, etc. in 18-24 months. Will post my Degree Plan when it is ready. Will also post comments on tests after I take them.

Has anyone ever attended the COSC graduation.

Cheers!

I was C/O 2007 at COSC... unless its changed, they have the graduation in the auditorium of neighboring Central Connecticut State University (CCSU) in New Britain, CT.. its the typical graduation- guest speakers, followed by another guest speaker, award recognition(s), then the walk of fame... definitely worth it if you're not trekking too far ie; Alaska or Hawaii

[rachel83az]

Provider: Sophia.org
Course: Principles of Finance
Course content: Text
Final exam format: Multiple choice
Final exam content vs course content/practice exams: I think they were aligned well enough; I just didn't always understand the questions
Time taken on course: 1 day; barely passed
Familiarity with subject before course: Already had taken Sophia's economics & accounting courses; that helped with some of it.
Pitfalls, high points, things others should know: This is only 4 units long but it packs more actual info in than other 4-unit courses. It's a very bad idea to rush your way through this. You'll be doing math for various challenges/milestone questions and you really need to know which formula to apply. There's one I got wrong every single time it showed up and I don't know why; unlike other Sophia courses (like Statistics), the milestones don't tell you why you got a thing wrong. You got it wrong. The end. The challenges were relatively easy in comparison to the milestones; I only lost one point in the challenges but I consistently missed multiple questions in each milestone. This is undoubtedly partly because I rushed the material but it's also very heavy coursework.
1-10 Difficulty level: 9

[jsh1138]

Provider: Study.com
Course: Communications 102: Interpersonal Communications
Course content: Standard Study.com quizzes
Final exam format: 70 question multiple choice
Final exam content vs course content/practice exams: It's about the same
Time taken on course: A week or two
Familiarity with subject before course: I have already done something like 8 communications courses
Pitfalls, high points, things others should know: Some parts of this course are ridiculous, like the "communicating with yourself" section where you're literally advised to look into a mirror and talk to yourself, or the "different kinds of love" kind where you have to memorize like 12 Greek words for different kinds of love. Some parts are semi-useful. Some parts are just about so and so's 10 part theory of communication, or so and so's 6 part theory of communication. All of those theories run together after awhile so it can be tricky. But this is an intro course so it's nothing too crazy.
1-10 Difficulty level: 2

[cecilgambe7]

Provider: Sophia.org
Course: Business Law
Course content: Text and optional audio of text, no videos available
Final exam format: Multiple choice
Final exam content vs course content/practice exams: Some questions are ambiguous but it is consistent with the material.
Time taken on course: One week.
Familiarity with subject before course: I had never read anything about law before taking the course
Pitfalls, high points, things others should know: 3 units:
Unit 1 - 4 Parts (Easy unit)
Unit 2 - 4 Parts (Difficult unit)
Unit 3 - 3 Parts (Easy unit)
Unit 2 include a paper assignment, this is what complicates the course.
Assignment anyway is not difficult, but it requires a minimum of 750 words and it is really difficult to write so much in relation to what they ask of you. I really expected a boring and difficult course but I found the opposite. The course is quite interesting, maybe some parts are a bit boring, but overall it's an nice course.
1-10 Difficulty level: 2-3

[nomaduser]

Provider: Sophia.org
Course: Ancient Greek Philosophers
Course content: Multiple choice quizzes and lectures
Final exam format: Multiple choice questions
Final exam content vs course content/practice exams: it's the same
Time taken on course: Less than a week
Familiarity with subject before course: I've studied Philosophy four years ago. Maybe for a couple of weeks?
Pitfalls, high points, things others should know: Try to read its contents thoroughly. You'll be able to pass all of their quizzes without much hassles.
1-10 Difficulty level: 2. Pretty easy as long as you can understand its text materials!

[CableGuy98]

Provider: Onlinedegree.com
Course: Introduction to Robotics
Course content: Video lecture, short video presentations, external referral links to additional websites & materials. At the end of each lesson, there's a 5-7 question quiz that must be completed before moving forward in the course.
Final exam format: 44 questions, multiple choice- largely based on material covered in videos and quizzes, sometimes verbatim other times worded differently.
Final exam content vs course content/practice exams: Zero curveballs, if you watch the videos and do well on the "quizzes", you should have zero problems on the final exam. There is a $9.00 proctor fee to take the final- its not through proctorU, but you still have to do the standard show all 4 walls, present photo ID yada yada yada.
Time taken on course: 2 weeks, start to finish.. could have moved quicker, but took this course concurrently with 2 other courses.. helps to pace yourself.
Familiarity with subject before course: Walked in the door with Electronics/Mechatronics knowledge, so the terminology and concepts was nothing new. They're up to date on what they're presenting, the videos are roughly 2-3 years old based on some of the dates thrown around.
Pitfalls, high points, things others should know: You can't skip any of the videos, the software won't allow it... you've got to watch at least a solid 90% of the video before the "mark complete" button illuminates. To be quite honest, there was maybe 3 or 4 videos I actually wanted to skip and that was because the instructor showed the exact same video in the lecture. The material is pretty interesting if you're into "Tech".. no it won't make you a robo genius, but it's an introductory course... With regards to obtaining credit, they have an agreement with Excelsior College- Excelsior recognizes Onlinedegree.com courses via NCCR and will print them on Excelsior letterhead, which allows your credit to come from a college vice "onlinedegree.com" as some institutions ONLY consider credits coming from other colleges/universities. The cost for the service is reasonable and does NOT include a transcript sent to your school (additional $12), takes about 4 weeks start to finish unless you choose to pay for rush service.. all in all, not bad.
1-10 Difficulty level: 5-6 depending on previous knowledge- the quizzes are not forgiving so it pays to get it right the first time.

[jsh1138]

I was really interested in checking that course out. Thanks for reviewing it

[jsh1138]

Provider: Study.com
Course: Business 102: Principles of Marketing
Course content: standard Study.com stuff
Final exam format: 100 Multiple Choice
Final exam content vs course content/practice exams: It's the same
Time taken on course: A week or so
Familiarity with subject before course: I have run a business for 20+ years so I'm familiar
Pitfalls, high points, things others should know: This is a 100's level business course. If you know nothing about business there are alot of new concepts and terms but if you've worked in management it's just review
1-10 Difficulty level: 1 for me

[jsh1138]

Provider: Study.com
Course: Communications 101: Public Speaking
Course content: standard Study.com stuff
Final exam format: 100 Multiple Choice & 3 speeches
Final exam content vs course content/practice exams: It's the same
Time taken on course: A week or so
Familiarity with subject before course: I lack about 2 classes on getting a Communications BA so I'm familiar
Pitfalls, high points, things others should know: This is an intro course so it's pretty simple. There are alot of overlaps on the lessons so you repeat some concepts several times. The speeches are a pain in the ass but not difficult.
1-10 Difficulty level: 3 because of the speeches

[bjcheung77]

Thank you jsh1138, you're amazing!  A credit munching cookie monster!  Especially in the case for Study.com!  I thought I had numerous credits when I did over 100+ StraighterLine credits, I am doing many Study.com ones right now but haven't reached the 100 credit mark yet, soon probably... Thanks again for all your reviews!  I love each and every one of em!  Hopefully it'll be as easy for me, lol... (some courses are harder than others)