Advice for a friend regarding COSC

[dartheminence]

( I have permission from my friend to be posting this information.) I met my friend Alex through a brick and mortar school I was attending before I decided to take the leap with COSC and get an associates degree.

Alex's situation is a bit different than mine. He works at WalMart and was studying for a Mathematics degree before he had to drop out as he faced a major injury and couldn't get to and from school. He has watched what I have done with COSC and wants to do the same. He first wants his AS and then his BS with his concentration in Math. That's where I need your help. Money is a huge factor in this. I need to know the cheapest options available for him to get this.

I know a 40th percentile on the GRE will wield him 24 Math Credits for the bachelors. He's taking the exam Nov. 10 to try it out and save those credits.

He applied to start Charter Oak in Spring semester.

He has most of his GEN ED out of the way. He needs to take Ethics and then he needs to maybe take a DSST since his GPA is a 1.9, something graded to boost his GPA to a 2.0. He has 74 credits. Does anyone have any advice for him or anything, or any methods to get the Associates degree out of the way quickly and any advice with regard to the Math concentration?

He's a great person and I really want to help him.

[NAP]

When I looked at this degree for myself over a year ago, there was a chart on the COSC website that explained this degree with using the Math GRE. I can't find it online now. (If he doesn't find it either, I can send it to you to use as a possible guideline.) Basically, it said the Math concentration could be completed through the Math GRE + 3 exams/courses (some UL) + capstone course. Alex should look at Ohio U exams/courses, Idaho, TESC, etc. to create a list of his math options. Then I would expect that he could discuss these with an advisor when he takes his cornerstone (degree planning) course.

Does he have any math credit already? He'll need to ask about how those are handled.

What does he want to do with this degree? If he wants to go to grad school, does he need any specific prerequisites?

He should also ask COSC about getting the associate degree soon, while working on his bachelor's degree.

This degree was/is very tempting to me. I'd love to see him successfully complete it.

(If he needs to use financial aid, check posts by Rebel100 for more details.)

Edit to add: I am attaching the file from 2011 that I mentioned earlier. I don't know if it is accurate for current students. I don't know why it was removed from the school's website. It should still help with his discussions with the school.

[Jonathan Whatley]

The cornerstone and capstone courses* at Charter Oak are graded.

DSSTs with three-number scores don't result in graded credit at Charter Oak, and I'm not certain two-number ones result in graded credit at present either. Excelsior College Examinations and UExcel exams result in graded credit. ECE has a general ethics exam as well as a bioethics exam.

Straighterline just introduced a Business Ethics course. Straighterline courses result in graded credit at Charter Oak, and just might hit the spot for GPA improvement here. (Although: Acceptance by any given graduate school of SL courses as equivalent to college-source courses is not guaranteed.)

* If I have this correctly, capstone courses in a concentration other than Individualized Studies or Liberal Studies are 3 semester hours with letter grade, while capstone courses in Individualized Studies or Liberal Studies are divided into a 1 sh pass/fail course and a 2 sh graded course.

[rebel100]

2 digit DSST had a letter grade until at least Nov. 2011...I would check to see this is still the case. I got an "A" in Technical Writing and Civil War.

COSC Master List of Exams Charter Oak State College - List of Exams It shows 24 credits mixed upper and lower if score is in 40th %.

Your pal likely qualifies for F/A he needs to go to FAFSA.gov fill it out and see. A full PELL grant is about $5400/year and that will go a long way if you use it right. COSC is awesome at this and will offer you to take some of your classes at a cheaper school via a consortium agreement. If he fills out FAFSA and is aid eligible I will detail haw the process works...he has to do his part first though cause it's a drawn out process and not worth my trouble to detail if he's just kicking tires.

I would grab an AA/AS at COSC under some circumstances, but it's generally not the cheapest way to get an associates. take a look at New Mexico Junior College instead...they take a boatload of CLEP and you can take 24 credits there in a semester for about $56/credit...Once your back to seeking a bachelors there are solid financial reasons to choose COSC.

Best,
Reb

[NAP]

Hi again,

I added the COSC Math GRE chart to my previous post, in case Alex needs it. Just be cautious because it may be out of date.

[dartheminence]

Thank you to everyone who responded!

NAP thank you so much for the chart. I printed it out. This will come in very handy! He has some Math credit, but he wasn't a very good student. I think most Gen EDs and Mathematical Modeling, Statistics, and Calc II will transfer. He may need financial aid, but he doesn't qualify for it. His GPA is a 1.9. A part of the reason he had to drop out of KSU is because he was placed on academic probation causing him to lose his aid.

[Prloko]

Correct me if I'm wrong everyone, but doesn't COSC offer an academic forgivness and lets you exclude certain courses from transferring? I don't know if this works, but he could exclude any F's and D's from transferring to COSC, take and pay for the $750 cornerstone course + the semester fee, get a good grade, he should now have over a 2.0 GPA at COSC and then can apply for FAFSA and it should show he's above a 2.0. I don't know if the gov't looks at a cumulative GPA from past schools, but I highly doubt it.

Thank you to everyone who responded!

NAP thank you so much for the chart. I printed it out. This will come in very handy! He has some Math credit, but he wasn't a very good student. I think most Gen EDs and Mathematical Modeling, Statistics, and Calc II will transfer. He may need financial aid, but he doesn't qualify for it. His GPA is a 1.9. A part of the reason he had to drop out of KSU is because he was placed on academic probation causing him to lose his aid.