Thomas Edison Sucks

[soupbone]

psclements,

You say that you love this place (IC) and have been helped by the people who have generously given of their time to help others, and you are finished with your degree and you have a grand total 22 posts! Are you really concerned about being helpful?

Please read some of my over 300 posts before you call me names.

My review of TESC is honest, accurate, and hopefully helpful to many. I only wish that someone had been so direct about it before I decided on TE.

I must disagree with you on your last two sentences. Your review of TESC is just that. It is your review only. I know that you have given only your opinion and experience with TESC but there are several others who haven't even had one single problem with them. That person would be me. Your title is very inflammatory and that in my opinion is the biggest problem that taints the many pages of actual issues. So while you say TESC sucks I say they have been nothing short of awesome with me. Every single person I have spoken with so far has been great, the information given has been accurate, and I am very happy to be finishing my degree with them.

So while your intentions have been to help people the title started this whole thread off on the wrong foot. I applaud you for bringing up your individual issues and talking about them but saying TESC sucks is nothing but your own opinion of the school.

[lmech]

I must disagree with you on your last two sentences. Your review of TESC is just that. It is your review only. I know that you have given only your opinion and experience with TESC but there are several others who haven't even had one single problem with them. That person would be me. Your title is very inflammatory and that in my opinion is the biggest problem that taints the many pages of actual issues. So while you say TESC sucks I say they have been nothing short of awesome with me. Every single person I have spoken with so far has been great, the information given has been accurate, and I am very happy to be finishing my degree with them.

So while your intentions have been to help people the title started this whole thread off on the wrong foot. I applaud you for bringing up your individual issues and talking about them but saying TESC sucks is nothing but your own opinion of the school.

I Love the Title

Personally, I'm glad Brian called this thread what he feels, and see nothing wrong with it. Apparently, there are some people who have had good experiences with this school. I'm glad. Unfortunately, there are many who have not, and would like to inform other people of their problems to help in the decision making process over which school is best for them.

Just a reminder, anyone can start a new thread on this forum. I believe Alissa just started a thread for the people who have had good experiences w/ TESC. We all have choices

[Jason86]

OP used plain terms and made no effort to hide his anger. Maybe some aren't used to direct language. When some asked him to substantiate-he did. Others with complaints about customer service made the point they were giving their opinions and they gave specifics as to the problems encountered. As a current TE student I found some points made on this thread useful. For one thing I now know how to plan my grad date and will try to avoid slow credit posting issues.

After ppl gave specific details abt probs w/ TE service...A TE rocks thread was started with comments like "dubious information" and "heavy on the personal opinions". Who's opinion is one qualified to give if not a personal one? Also if the information is dubious-specify and maybe OP or anyone else can give more details. One post was quoted here and and called fishy. The meaning of the term fishy (calling someone a liar) has not changed since the Shakespearean play where the term fishy was first used. It's a first amendment issue-op posted about his frustration. Nobody is forced to read any thread.

[alissaroot]

I don't have a problem with people expressing their personal opinions. That is one of the things I like about this forum, and the First Amendment. I am sorry if you took that phrase personally, perhaps I should have worded that differently. I had only hoped to give TESC students an opportunity to provide a counterpoint to this thread. That thread also includes personal opinions. Even facts can be viewed from very different perspectives. I think the other thread shows that. There are several things in there that TESC students viewed as positives, which I thought of as drawbacks. I guess it is more highly situational than I had considered.

There are benefits and drawbacks to all of the Big Three. It would be nice if we had one large thread that explained all of these features, such as cost, credit transferability, customer service, name issues for those who care, graduation schedule,and all the other factors so that people could make a more informed decision. Then we could all point newbies toward that thread, and threads like this one, where people feel they were uninformed, would not appear. I just thought that this one lonely thread shows TESC in a bad light, perhaps they deserve it on some points, but I would hate to see someone mark TESC completely off their list. Especially if it could be a better choice for them. Although I would encourage anyone to look at EC. But that is just my personal opinion. :p

Speaking of facts versus personal opinions, I just looked up the Big Three on the Better Business Bureau's site. TESC has just four complaints. Instantcert had six. Excelsior had thirty-six, and COSC had none. Interesting. Maybe we all chose wrong, and this thread should be titled...go with COSC!

[wangoZtango]

I'll graduate with a BA in History from TESC this fall. I haven't had any serious problems. Once you figure out their terribly slow software for classrooms and email, it becomes easy.
I started online classes at Troy University and took some at American Military University (APUS), which was the toughest by far. But TESC gets me an accredited degree faster and, in the end, that's all that matters.

[thatbrian]

I regret the title I gave this thread, because I don't normally speak that way, and it's caused me to be misunderstood by a few people. I hate being misunderstood. I might have communicated more clearly if I had waited to cool down before I first wrote, but that's water under the bridge now.

Although I was extremely angry when I first started this thread, that does not mean that what I said was not factual. A number of people have had the same type of complaints concerning TE; I am not alone. I am also not saying that people could go to TE and never have a problem. I'm quite sure that it's possible. What I am saying is that it's not worth the risk. A simple search (on IC) will show that there are many more people thrilled with EC than with TESC. Also, there are many more people who have complained about TESC that have complained about EC.

My complaints are:

1) Advisors gave incorrect info (caused me to waste time and money).

2) Literature states that they must receive transcripts by cut off date to graduate, but in reality they must also enter data into system by cutoff date

3) Extremely slow in updating info after they receive transcripts.

4) Some of the folks there have a bad attitude. They simple don't care.

I ignored the warnings that I saw here and chose TE because it seemed to be the faster/easier way. My warning to all is that in the end it (probably) is NOT going to be the faster/easier way - don't do it.

I must disagree with you on your last two sentences. Your review of TESC is just that. It is your review only. I know that you have given only your opinion and experience with TESC but there are several others who haven't even had one single problem with them. That person would be me. Your title is very inflammatory and that in my opinion is the biggest problem that taints the many pages of actual issues. So while you say TESC sucks I say they have been nothing short of awesome with me. Every single person I have spoken with so far has been great, the information given has been accurate, and I am very happy to be finishing my degree with them.

So while your intentions have been to help people the title started this whole thread off on the wrong foot. I applaud you for bringing up your individual issues and talking about them but saying TESC sucks is nothing but your own opinion of the school.

[thatbrian]

Alissa,

Those numbers aren't meaningful without more information.

Firstly, COSC is a tiny school (about 2,000), while EC is the largest of the three (about 30,000). TESC enrollment is about 13,000. Shear numbers alone partially account for the difference in number of complaints.

Secondly, we need to know what those complaints were about. Did they necessarily have an effect on the students education and experience at the school?

Thirdly, were they resolved? This might be the most important factor. Any institution will have problems, but it's how it handles the problems that counts.

You see, although you presented "facts" they can be very misleading. There is no substitute for personal opinion in matters like this. If you have 10 people tell you not to go to a certain restaurant because the food stinks. Well, that is just their opinion, but any intelligent person would listen.

In my personal opinion, TESC is to be avoided, because of the bad (factually based) things that happened to me there.

Brian

Speaking of facts versus personal opinions, I just looked up the Big Three on the Better Business Bureau's site. TESC has just four complaints. Instantcert had six. Excelsior had thirty-six, and COSC had none. Interesting. Maybe we all chose wrong, and this thread should be titled...go with COSC!

[alissaroot]

Brian, I agree with you. I never thought I'd be in a thread defending TESC. I balked at the $2500 enrollment fee. But you are pointing out that the BBB reports show a small slice of the facts, and I am pointing out that this forum shows a small slice. This is a small forum, and of all the students the Big Three deals with, only a tiny percentage end up here, and also end up participating regularly. I still don't think we have a very good view of the whole pie.

On the other hand, I am still glad this discussion has progressed. I do see there there are some very important factors that potential TESC students should consider, and I am glad you have raised the points for discussion.

Oh, and here is the BBB's site for anyone who would like to learn more about the complaints. Start With Trust -- Start With BBB

[Scholar Interrupted]

Thanks, Alissaroot. I had wondered the same thing about EC. I, too, was initially put off by the name "Excelsior," and, to be frank, I'm still sheepish when telling "uninitiated" friends and acquaintances the name of my school. But the name of the school just wasn't a major factor in my decision -- I based it on which school looked like it would suit my needs best. And I haven't been disappointed by EC.

The "Stinkyphart family" comment made me LOL. When pondering which school to pick, I decided the name really wasn't all that important. Plenty of venerable old schools have silly-sounding names and are obscure to the average person. Two that come to mind are Sewanee the University of the South (the ancestral school of a whole family of wealthy lawyers I once knew -- at least 3 generations of them had attended) and Sweetbriar College (a prestigious women's college that my boss's wealthy wife attended to prepare for luxurious homemakerdom and membership in various charitable committees and junior leagues).

Oh, and I'm not sure TESC and Charter Oak really sound much better. Especially Charter Oak.

I don't want to derail this thread, but I just wanted to answer this question really fast. They had to change the name because they used to be part of the University of the State of New York, the Regents was a subset. [...]

[cookderosa]

In an effort to be helpful, if anyone is having a hard time finding written answers to their questions before enrolling at TESC, perhaps you can post your questions here so people in the forum can help you find the answers if you can't find them yourself. There are a lot of TESC students/grads here.
Everything you need to know about TESC is on their website-somewhere- but between all of their links-booklets-publications-etc, some of the info can be hard to find.
Over the past 2 years, I have probably read most of the pages in all of the publications. I'm happy to help people locate where to find answers to their questions.

On a personal note, please don't enroll anywhere if you don't know all the basics about the college (and most of the details). You don't get to "go in" like you do at a B&M school and have someone lay it all out for you- it really is more of a "do it yourself" kind of situation, and a lot of the responsibility rests on your own shoulders. Just know the rules of the game before you play and you're less likely to get hit with a foul.