Free Winter term for Sophia members, Strayer U

[jch]

Does anyone else who enrolled in the free term have an account balance showing in their dashboard? It's showing the full cost of courses in my account. I reached out to my "coach" last week with no response. I submitted a support ticket about it a day or two ago and no response there either. I don't want to buy my course materials or even open my laptop until I know this is straightened out. Also, I just noticed my coach is now changed to someone else. I read about their lack of communication and switching coaches on Strayer's own message boards.

Did your admissions rep set you up correctly with the sophia free term offer? I explicitly discussed it with my rep, and there was a document for the free term offer included in the docusign package which confirmed that I was eligible and signed up.

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Okay, so I logged into iCampus. That is Strayer's learning management system. I used the pull-down menu under "Campus and Library" to find the following instructions about taking the challenge exams:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1tNsQQZU...sp=sharing

Basically, if you've ever used ProctorU before, you already have an account there. You can use the one you have. Or, if you haven't used ProctorU, you can make a new account there. Once you login to your ProctorU account, you have to go into your own settings - I just clicked on my name at the top right - and I found the option to add a new school to my ProctorU account. I did this and added Strayer University.

Once I did this, I was able to just go to the normal ProctorU scheduling system and schedule an exam. It is actually a pretty impressive list of challenge exams and I decided to pick one that I thought would be easy. I picked the "College Algebra with Applications" exam. There was an immediate opening and I thought, what the hey, let's take it.

Everything was going great with the proctor until he tried to load the exam for me. Strayer apparently uses ALEKS for this test. The proctor pulled up the ALEKS page, entered the code that he was given by Strayer and it didn't work. Probably just a bad code, but it meant that I was not taking that exam tonight.

As a proof of concept, I don't think that there is much of anything stopping anyone who is now in Strayer's system from just taking all the exams. I would say that I think these exams will take some studying. I am planning to pick a couple that I don't really care about as test cases to see how these exams are structured.

Thanks for sharing your experience.

Regarding the bad exam access code, this is the same thing that I experience with TESU every time I have to use ProctorFU. It often takes them longer to get in to the exam than it does for me to take it.

For the Algebra exam, what was allowed for calculators and scratch paper? I have yet to find any documentation about this.

I am also looking to attempt many of the exams while I have access to Strayer's system. I'll first try a few that don't matter much to me, potentially as soon as this weekend. Once I pass something and it hits my transcript, I will immediately send it off to TESU for evaluation. I will let all of you know the outcome. If everything goes well, I hope to complete a collection of business and CIS credits that would be difficult and expensive to acquire elsewhere.

While I have my call with the dean tomorrow to select my actual classes, I'm having the same struggle with class enrollment as the rest of you. It seems that the system is trying to start me with the entry-level success type classes that I neither need nor want, despite having already completed nearly all gened through sophia and ASU already. Also not helping my planning are the marketing heavy class names and quarter-hour credits used by Strayer.

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Note: If you're NOT going for a degree at Strayer, these evaluation that they give you won't really matter. The main thing I am waiting on is "What courses are available to take for the FREE term?" I still have no list of courses to select from! Does anyone have a list yet? If it's some courses that I already have covered with the Alternative Credit providers (ACE), then it would be a "useless" term. I am mainly looking to see if I can get Upper Level and Challenge Exams for cheap... that's all I am looking at!

I briefly considered going for a degree with them, but then I found their punitive credit residency policy: http://studenthandbook.strayer.edu/en/St...equirement

Long story short, a Bachelors requires ~12 classes with them and an Associates ~6. Sophia, transfer credit, CLEP credits, DSST credits, any other ACE, and Challenge Exam credits do NOT count. No thanks, I'll stick with TESU. Strayer is too expensive to take that many credits, and there's still lots of alt credit opportunities that I want to use.

[dfrecore]

I'm guessing that once you have a Strayer course completed and on a transcript, you are then able to take Challenge exams whenever you want - even if you're no longer enrolled? Because there are no per-term fees there, you don't have to un-enroll to be able to continue on there...

Also, I wouldn't say that Strayer's Residency requirement is at all "punitive." You have to take 54 quarter credits (36 semester credits) there. That's completely normal - I know MANY schools who require more than that, and I can list 20 schools off the top of my head that require 30cr in residence.

The fact that transfer credit, CLEP, DSST, etc. don't count towards residency is COMPLETELY normal - those are NOT resident credits in any way shape or form. I can't imagine why anyone would think that.

As for their quarter-credit system - these are a perfect alignment wit semester credits: 4.5 quarter hours = 3 semester hours. The harder part is when schools have 4 quarter hours (2.67 semester hours), which is then hard to work into a degree plan. But 4.5 is a perfect fit, and shouldn't make you have to think twice about taking their courses at all. 4.5 quarter hours x 40 courses = 180 quarter credits. 3 semester hours x 40 courses = 120 semester credits. Easy peasy. (again, many quarter-based schools have 45 4-qc courses, meaning you have to take extra courses to make everything fit).

[rachel83az]

Being able to take a challenge exam at any time would be amazing.

I am not super thrilled about their (lack of) communication, though. I keep getting emails to "finish my enrollment" but there is literally nothing more for me to do. I have not gotten the DocuSign things that I am supposed to go over. I have uploaded my ID, sent in my transcripts (even though they're supposed to request them on my behalf) and now I just... wait. Very frustrating.

[jch]

Being able to take a challenge exam at any time would be amazing.

I am not super thrilled about their (lack of) communication, though. I keep getting emails to "finish my enrollment" but there is literally nothing more for me to do. I have not gotten the DocuSign things that I am supposed to go over. I have uploaded my ID, sent in my transcripts (even though they're supposed to request them on my behalf) and now I just... wait. Very frustrating.

I have completed my admission as of this week. I received and signed all the docusign stuff on Tuesday and got back my official letter of acceptance on Wednesday. I've sent in all my transcripts, and they've received them all (except high school, but they have seen my diploma). Still waiting for Sophia to be processed, but everything else has hit my degree plan. I had scheduled a call to do my class enrollments on Thursday just before they left for the holiday, but nobody ever called. Strayer requires that the first quarter enrollment be done with assistance, and the website won't let you sign up for anything yourself. Throughout the process I have continued to receive automated marketing emails about finishing my enrollment and related things, irrespective of where I actually was in the process. The whole procedure seemed to go pretty well for me, as it took less then a week from filling out the interest form to completing admission.

I'm hoping that they will let me take CIS 110 (Computer programming design) and CIS 111 (Intro to relational database management) this quarter. I think I've met the prerequisites. While I am strong with many general CIS and BUS topics, databases and programming have always been weak areas for me. I don't think I'd be able to personally pass any alt credit for these, and have always wanted to do them as an actual class. Per the TESU transfer tool, these classes should transfer in favorably. Maybe they'll make me sign up for some development class like WRK100 or something, but I can deal with that.

One significant benefit of Strayer for me is that they have free practice tests and discounted exam vouchers for many IT certs available for anyone in icampus. I have been planning to take all the CompTIA stuff for years. Back in high school, I participated in several competitions based on A+, Security+, and Network+, ranking in the top ten nationally. I just never got around to taking the real cert exams.

Also there's a link for a free digital subscription to the Wall Street Journal at the bottom left corner of the icampus home screen.

I have figured out how to sign up for the challenge exams at proctorU. Once my household quiets down this weekend and I have space/time to do so, I plan to attempt a few of the 100-level exams. If those go well, I will start picking my way through everything else. There are many upper level courses offered which look like they'll apply to a BSBA/CIS at TESU. Of course, I'll tell y'all how it goes.

[jch]

Successfully took and passed the CIS 109 Intro to management info systems exam just now. ProctorU actually worked well this morning. It's 50 multiple choice questions, with 90 minutes allowed. Must get at least 75% to pass. Scratch paper is allowed, although I don't know why you'd use it on this particular exam. I'm still searching for a master list of materials allowed on all the challenge exams. Login was smooth, the proctor simply loaded up a URL from a Strayer subdomain at an online testing service, then pasted in their passcode. No login drama like I've experienced with TESU.

I didn't really need this credit, because I already have it from Sophia. However, it's always good to replace ACE credits with RA if the opportunity arises. To study, I reviewed the Sophia MIS text and some relevant Quizlets.

If I have time, I'll attempt some of the other CIS stuff this weekend. ProctorU was unfortunately not allowing instant openings this morning, and the next slots were 1-2 hours. Because of personal health and family scheduling reasons, I really can't book these in advance.

Nothing is showing up on icampus yet, but I think Strayer's systems work on overnight batch processing. Additionally, some manual work at the registrar's office may be needed to add it to my transcript.

[jch]

Okay, I got ambitious and attempted some additional exams. Here's my observations:

• The exam URL is only provided to the proctor, not to you. On 2/4 sessions, the proctor asked me to provide it and I didn't have it. Let them know that only they (are supposed to) have it, and they'll quickly find it in their notes. For reference, the URL for the testing portal is https://strayer.onlinetests.app/assess.aspx?aid=CRJ180 (substitute in your course id at the end). 
  
• It's on a mostly decent online testing site. This is with the exception of the algebra exam, which we know is on ALEKS thanks to eriehiker. My main complaint with it is that there's no way to move between questions except one at a time via previous and next. 
  
• ProctorU still is heavily dependent on Adobe Flash, despite the EoL approaching in a number of days. All the browsers are now aggressively disabling it by default, causing significant problems. In 3/4 of my sessions, the normal ProctorU session page didn't work correctly, and they had to load an alternate. 2/3 of these cases required the intervention of a tech support person, causing a ~15 minute delay. The other time, the proctor was able to instantly do it themselves. 
  
• ProctorU openings have consistently been 1-3 hours out recently. I haven't seen the test now option at all. 
  
• Everything seems to follow a 50 question format, with multiple choice and true/false questions. Time allotted is either 90 minutes or 150 minutes, which is far in excess of what would be needed for anything I've seen so far. Passing score is 70% - I'm not sure if it was actually 75% for my first exam as I initially reported. 
  
• Scratch paper has been allowed on everything so far. I asked ProctorU if they had a master list of allowed materials, but they don't. 
  
• Final scores or detailed results are not provided to you, just pass/no pass. 
  
• I still have not seen anything show up on Strayer's iCampus regarding the exams I have passed. I've checked on the Academic dashboard, the test results section at the bottom of the transfer credit report page, and my unofficial transcript. I know that the registrar's office is taking about a week to process incoming credits right now, so I think they're just behind. I will continue to monitor this. 
  
• The course guides available at the bottom of the credit by exam page are helpful. They list the course description, learning outcomes, and instructional materials used. My strategy thus far has been to find quizlets that align to the outcomes and/or are made for the textbook used. 
  
• The exam questions have been heavy on knowledge of theories in the relevant field, and the people involved in them. Make sure you know all of them. 
  

Here is what I have attempted so far:

• CIS109 Intro to Management Information Systems. The Sophia course prepared me decently. Passed
  
• CIS170 IT in Criminal Justice. Lots of stuff about cybercrime. The TEEX courses were somewhat helpful. Passed
  
• CRJ105 Crime and Criminal Behavior. Passed. 
  
• CRJ180 Juvenile Delinquency and Justice. This exam appears to be broken. There were about a dozen questions that were repeated 2-3 times, but with different answer choices. I did not pass, and plan to appeal. 
  

Overall, these challenge exams seem like a great way to pick up lots of RA AoS credit quickly and cheaply, especially in business and related fields. Sophia + Strayer exams + a few CLEPs can supply just about everything required for a BSBA, in a few concentrations. However, all of this is dependent of IF the credits can be transferred out without any drama, which is yet to be seen. 

Regarding class enrollment for the free term, Strayer is frustrating me. You are required to be assisted for enrollment in your first term, and the website will not allow you to sign up for classes yourself. However, I can't seem to get a person to help me! The phone appointment time last week made by my admissions rep came and went without any contact. I still have not been assigned a success coach. I have been assigned a dean and tried emailing him, but it bounced. I've now sent an email to the general deanchat@strayer.edu inbox. If I don't have a response by midday Wednesday, I'll have to call. Classes start on Monday, there's a holiday Thur/Fri, and I still don't have any class registrations or materials. This isn't conducive for a strong start.

[rachel83az]

I realize that the free term is being provided for FREE but I'm pretty sure that they're hoping to retain at least some students for future terms. Not being able to properly enroll students isn't going to help them with those goals. This doesn't even mention how frustrating it is for the students. I still feel that Strayer could potentially be a good path for RA credits for some students in the future. But I don't like how impossible they're making it.

jch, thanks for the review of the process! It's extremely helpful. I hope that ProctorU figures out what it's doing and deals with the Flash EoL by tomorrow when it happens.

[MNomadic]

Those $20 challenge exams are the real prize with the free Strayer term! Some useful and rare options there including an UL project management course and an UL CIS course : CIS375 Human Computer Interaction.

[wow]

I received my acceptance. They deemed me eligible because I joined Sofia during the promotional period, even though my membership was not continuous from the promotional period. That is, I let my membership lapse and then rejoined. So if they're still accepting applications for winter term, it may be possible to sign up for the free 3 months Sophia is currently offering, then apply for the free winter term at strayer, and get that free winter term.

Of course, today or tomorrow is the last business day before the winter term starts, so you would need to get moving right away and be proactive in getting the process rolling.

Question will be whether or not the free winter term is worth it. I have been signed up for 2 classes, the workforce class mentioned here and Econ 110. The workforce class is supposed to prepare students for the modern work force and it is required of all students, even if you have been working for decades. Econ 110 appears to be a personal finance class. I'm guessing the big 3 would accept these for Gen eds, but I wonder if most other colleges would accept them at all.

I have asked about switching to or adding an IT class, since that is the program I'm enrolled in. They haven't processed my transcripts yet, so we'll see. From what the dean told me, you have to take the classes in a specific order and can only skip ahead if you've received the equivalent credit elsewhere or sign papers confirming that you are currently working toward that credit elsewhere (e.g., Sophia).

Some people on this forum have mentioned getting a voucher to use at the campus bookstore. After reading the small print, this appears (at least in my case) to be a line of credit and not an actual voucher. In other words, anything you spend off the "voucher" will be charged to your student account and you will have to personally pay it off or pay it off using your education loans. If anyone has specific information to the contrary, please share!

Finally, regarding the challenge exams, does anyone have experience transferring these credits to other schools and having them counted as RA credits? Or are we all crossing our fingers and hoping for the best?

[rachel83az]

Of course, today or tomorrow is the last business day before the winter term starts, so you would need to get moving right away and be proactive in getting the process rolling.

I am still trying to get enrolled! It's extremely frustrating because I even paid to send in all my transcripts, including dealing with sending them my Sophia transcript, even though the process claims they'll do that on your behalf. I don't even care what classes I get enrolled in. I just want to get set up.

Question will be whether or not the free winter term is worth it. I have been signed up for 2 classes, the workforce class mentioned here and Econ 110. The workforce class is supposed to prepare students for the modern work force and it is required of all students, even if you have been working for decades. Econ 110 appears to be a personal finance class. I'm guessing the big 3 would accept these for Gen eds, but I wonder if most other colleges would accept them at all.

They should, at least, transfer as electives. But they probably don't have much use beyond Strayer itself and the Big 3.

I have asked about switching to or adding an IT class, since that is the program I'm enrolled in. They haven't processed my transcripts yet, so we'll see. From what the dean told me, you have to take the classes in a specific order and can only skip ahead if you've received the equivalent credit elsewhere or sign papers confirming that you are currently working toward that credit elsewhere (e.g., Sophia).

Having completed almost everything at Sophia, I have fingers crossed that I will be able to take at least one IT/CS class. Makes me extra glad that I managed to also take a couple of IT/CS classes from ASU.

Finally, regarding the challenge exams, does anyone have experience transferring these credits to other schools and having them counted as RA credits? Or are we all crossing our fingers and hoping for the best?

I think that there is some finger-crossing going on. In theory, they'll transfer like TECEPs or UExcels to the Big 3. For $20 a pop, it's at least worth finding out (IMO). Even if the exams don't transfer, spending a hundred bucks or so to find out + getting at least 6 RA credits from the generic Strayer courses isn't the worst deal ever for RA credits.