Transferring from a Big 3 to a state school

[cookderosa]

When my kid transferred to a small private university with a COSC AA (completed with CLEP, SL, DSST and CC) they only recognized the CC work and the CLEPs for a grand total of approximately 30 units.

After some petition paperwork, they finally accepted her AA fulfilling the general ed core.

Here are the lessons we learned:
1. The university website was really out of date. The CLEP list online changed and many CLEPs were articulated differently. AND the University's Adult Online program website had a CLEP transfer list that was different. Whenever we searched "{University Name} CLEP transfer" the top result was from the Adult Online program. It took a lot of clicking down ALL the search results to figure out something was weird.
2. ACE and SL websites had erroneous information about where the credit transferred. They seem to be cleaning this up. Don't expect the ACE stuff to transfer except at the Big 3 (and maybe WGU?).
3. With alternative credit, talk to real people. A couple of real people. Admissions counselor was not well-versed in alternative credit. The Registrar or someone in Records or Articulation have the real answers (if you can find them). Try to see an academic advisor (not just an Admissions "salesperson") before applying for a review of your coursework. We didn't know any better and the Admissions counselor was a gatekeeper. We didn't think to be more insistent on speaking to someone in the know.
4. Save any brochures or paperwork or screenshots. The petition for the AA to fulfill GE requirements was granted (I believe) because all the paperwork (application, website, brochures from tour) stated an "AA from a regionally accredited university fulfills GE core." A couple of semesters after she enrolled, the brochures now state an "AA from a regionally accredited university meeting the IGETC requirements fulfills GE core." Her COSC AA does not meet the IGETC/CSU/DTA requirements. I forget why...
5. Also, because the petition took at least 6 weeks to work through the system, it was a nail-biting waste to the start of classes. She was enrolled in a couple of basic GE classes (Intro to Psychology and English Comp 1 material AGAIN?!?) and she knew the CLEPs satisfied the GE requirement per the current CLEP transfer chart. (The CLEPs weren't articulated in the summer because we didn't send them. It took awhile to realize it. Our fault.) There was a bit of tug of war the first week trying to get out of those classes and into useful classes.

Hopefully your transfer or grad school enrollment will be less stressful!

great advice!