Charter Oak / Straighterline / Grades

[GreggT67]

Maybe some of us want to see our overall GPA tracked and memorialized for ourselves, not because "maybe we might impress an employer" but for ourselves. We know it's not going to impact our COSC GPA because that's based on the courses taken through COSC. Some of us actually made an effort to learn something and not get through by the skin of our teeth. Pass just feels like our efforts to get an A isn't quite appreciated, especially when grades from Straighterline come across as a letter grade. It wouldn't be so hard for COSC to take that 87 or 90 or 93 and apply the correct letter grade to it using their own scale. 

Is that an acceptable answer? Why is knowing my motivation and probably a few others a big deal? These ARE rhetorical questions. Definitely not interested in an answer.

Maybe those of us interested in it should reach out to Sophia and Study.com (and maybe others that I'm not aware of) and ask for them to follow standard letter grades so they can transfer to COSC without showing as Pass/Fail.

[Merlin]

Maybe some of us want to see our overall GPA tracked and memorialized for ourselves, not because "maybe we might impress an employer" but for ourselves. We know it's not going to impact our COSC GPA because that's based on the courses taken through COSC. Some of us actually made an effort to learn something and not get through by the skin of our teeth. Pass just feels like our efforts to get an A isn't quite appreciated, especially when grades from Straighterline come across as a letter grade. It wouldn't be so hard for COSC to take that 87 or 90 or 93 and apply the correct letter grade to it using their own scale. 

Is that an acceptable answer? Why is knowing my motivation and probably a few others a big deal? These ARE rhetorical questions. Definitely not interested in an answer.

Maybe those of us interested in it should reach out to Sophia and Study.com (and maybe others that I'm not aware of) and ask for them to follow standard letter grades so they can transfer to COSC without showing as Pass/Fail.

I don't think this is about academic motivation. I also aim for top marks in all my academic pursuits despite the fact that I can pass with a 70% score. In fact, most of my SL and SDC courses are in the 95%+ range because I like to learn and this fulfills my desire for personal accomplishment.

That said, I feel that the purpose of this line of questioning is to ensure that people understand that the grades accumulated from alt. education providers like SL don't impact the organizational GPA at COSC, even if they do appear with letter grades on a transcript. I feel that this is important to clarify since this could become a big deal for future readers who may read this thread and assume SL courses come in as graded institutional credits at COSC, only to later find out later that they are not. I would hate for someone to become frustrated or feel cheated because the credits don't apply the way they expect and/or that future schools don't accept those courses as graded credits.

As long as people realize that any grades associated with alt. ed credits transferred to COSC are just there for personal edification (or perhaps to show an employer who only looks at the final degree transcript) but do not count as institutional credits or impact a students GPA at COSC, then that is fine.

Either way, pointing this out doesn't marginalize the effort of people who pursue high marks to earn a better overall grade. Your success isn't diminished in any way, so there is no reason for anyone to become agitated about pointing this out––at least in my opinion.

[Tedium]

Maybe some of us want to see our overall GPA tracked and memorialized for ourselves, not because "maybe we might impress an employer" but for ourselves. We know it's not going to impact our COSC GPA because that's based on the courses taken through COSC. Some of us actually made an effort to learn something and not get through by the skin of our teeth. Pass just feels like our efforts to get an A isn't quite appreciated, especially when grades from Straighterline come across as a letter grade. It wouldn't be so hard for COSC to take that 87 or 90 or 93 and apply the correct letter grade to it using their own scale. 

Is that an acceptable answer? Why is knowing my motivation and probably a few others a big deal? These ARE rhetorical questions. Definitely not interested in an answer.

Maybe those of us interested in it should reach out to Sophia and Study.com (and maybe others that I'm not aware of) and ask for them to follow standard letter grades so they can transfer to COSC without showing as Pass/Fail.

If I weren’t interested in an answer then I would not have asked the question. It is not a personal attack on you or anyone else. As a future COSC student with these types of credits it is important for me to ensure that I’m not overlooking something or misreading a policy that might help me as I go through the process of re-enrollment. That would be the first reason why knowing someone’s motivation might be important. I did well in those classes too, and if having an “A” instead of a “P” would help me in some way I had not thought about then I would like to know about it. 

The second reason why getting clarification on someone’s motivation would be important is that vpassenheim is clearly not just trying to memorialize their achievements. They want to affect their institutional GPA. So it’s obvious that not everyone is using the same rationale that you are. I would venture to guess that most people are hoping that this is some way for them to bump their GPA or look better for grad school. If this isn’t possible then they should be made aware before they waste time and money. You know, one of the main focuses of this board.

The third reason why knowing someone’s motivation is important is because someone can see a person with seniority and as much knowledge as cookderosa putting effort into something like this and misunderstand why she’s doing it if she hasn’t given a clear reason in this thread. They just see that she is going through this effort for her children and they might make the assumption that it is to provide a benefit like a GPA bump, etc. That’s not something she might have intended, but that’s just something that comes with the territory sometimes. Having her clarify why she is pursuing this can cut out on misunderstandings in the future.

These kinds of clarifications are necessary to help people that aren’t in your situation because not everyone IS in your situation.

[cookderosa]

I’m not really sure why there big focus on getting these classes onto a COSC transcript with a letter grade. That will not help your COSC GPA in any way. COSC GPA is calculated from taking COSC classes. If you only take the Cornerstone and Capstone courses then those are the only courses that will affect your GPA. Transfer credit grades do not help or hurt your COSC GPA. I know this from experience and it’s clearly stated in the college’s catalog: https://www.charteroak.edu/catalog/curre...ns/gpa.php

If you’re doing it for grad school, “You must have X GPA for your last X graded courses”, you run into the same issues that schools have with the credit banks: they will want to look at and evaluate the transfer credit from the source, not just take COSC’s word for it. They will then make a decision on whether it counts as a letter grade or is P/F.

Maybe you might impress an employer or something, but I don’t see how this helps or hinders academically. If it doesn’t change your institutional or career GPA, and grad schools may not accept the letter grade COSC issues then why bother? Am I missing something here? Why is this a big deal for people? This is a genuine, not rhetorical question, because I feel like I’m missing something here.

I wouldn't put this in the "big deal" category, but I would argue that it's *nice* to have graded credits on a transcript regardless of whether or not they are needed. I don't think (though I'm totally speculating) that a grad school would observe a grade on a COSC transcript and ask for an OG transcript when only X graded credits are required - I can see them asking if it's a specific prereq, but I think we're splitting hairs really.

My son's Studycom classes haven't posted to his transcript yet, so I can't comment on that part- but I will add that my son's OnlineDegreeCom grade (B-) was added as a grade AND for those who care, the minus was applied to his GPA. It wasn't a full 9 quality points (I forget the math- but it was less, like 8.xx)

RE "The third reason why knowing someone’s motivation is important is because someone can see a person with seniority and as much knowledge as cookderosa putting effort into something like this and misunderstand why she’s doing it if she hasn’t given a clear reason in this thread. They just see that she is going through this effort for her children and they might make the assumption that it is to provide a benefit like a GPA bump, etc. That’s not something she might have intended, but that’s just something that comes with the territory sometimes. Having her clarify why she is pursuing this can cut out on misunderstandings in the future."

Huh? I'm confused. What is your question for me?

[Tedium]

I’m not really sure why there big focus on getting these classes onto a COSC transcript with a letter grade. That will not help your COSC GPA in any way. COSC GPA is calculated from taking COSC classes. If you only take the Cornerstone and Capstone courses then those are the only courses that will affect your GPA. Transfer credit grades do not help or hurt your COSC GPA. I know this from experience and it’s clearly stated in the college’s catalog: https://www.charteroak.edu/catalog/curre...ns/gpa.php

If you’re doing it for grad school, “You must have X GPA for your last X graded courses”, you run into the same issues that schools have with the credit banks: they will want to look at and evaluate the transfer credit from the source, not just take COSC’s word for it. They will then make a decision on whether it counts as a letter grade or is P/F.

Maybe you might impress an employer or something, but I don’t see how this helps or hinders academically. If it doesn’t change your institutional or career GPA, and grad schools may not accept the letter grade COSC issues then why bother? Am I missing something here? Why is this a big deal for people? This is a genuine, not rhetorical question, because I feel like I’m missing something here.

I wouldn't put this in the "big deal" category, but I would argue that it's *nice* to have graded credits on a transcript regardless of whether or not they are needed.  

...

Huh?  I'm confused.  What is your question for me?

I was just pointing out reasons why stating motivations were important to cut down on confusion. I used you as an example because you were the OP. My point was that since you didn’t clearly state your rationale in this thread for wanting letter grades vs pass/fail that people might make their own inferences about why you were doing it. 

Like you said above, you think grades are nice, and that’s cool. I was beginning to legitimately think I was missing something for a moment there. I am about to re-enroll and I didn’t want to find out about something too late if it would have benefited me.

[cookderosa]

I’m not really sure why there big focus on getting these classes onto a COSC transcript with a letter grade. That will not help your COSC GPA in any way. COSC GPA is calculated from taking COSC classes. If you only take the Cornerstone and Capstone courses then those are the only courses that will affect your GPA. Transfer credit grades do not help or hurt your COSC GPA. I know this from experience and it’s clearly stated in the college’s catalog: https://www.charteroak.edu/catalog/curre...ns/gpa.php

If you’re doing it for grad school, “You must have X GPA for your last X graded courses”, you run into the same issues that schools have with the credit banks: they will want to look at and evaluate the transfer credit from the source, not just take COSC’s word for it. They will then make a decision on whether it counts as a letter grade or is P/F.

Maybe you might impress an employer or something, but I don’t see how this helps or hinders academically. If it doesn’t change your institutional or career GPA, and grad schools may not accept the letter grade COSC issues then why bother? Am I missing something here? Why is this a big deal for people? This is a genuine, not rhetorical question, because I feel like I’m missing something here.

I wouldn't put this in the "big deal" category, but I would argue that it's *nice* to have graded credits on a transcript regardless of whether or not they are needed.  

...

Huh?  I'm confused.  What is your question for me?

I was just pointing out reasons why stating motivations were important to cut down on confusion. I used you as an example because you were the OP. My point was that since you didn’t clearly state your rationale in this thread for wanting letter grades vs pass/fail that people might make their own inferences about why you were doing it. 

Like you said above, you think grades are nice, and that’s cool. I was beginning to legitimately think I was missing something for a moment there. I am about to re-enroll and I didn’t want to find out about something too late if it would have benefited me.

OH! Ok, I understand now. Thank you!
Honest to goodness, I couldn't care less lol - it was just fun to do. My own motivations or my son's are so irrelevant. I love sharing things I find b/c others may find it useful (or not) but that's the kind of nerdy stuff I like to learn and share just for kicks. If you read through my posts, you won't find me telling people what to do, and unless they are creepy stalkers, the reasons *I* might do something / not do something really shouldn't matter too much in their life.

[vpassenheim]

*** I want everybody to know that if you request a transcript from ACE for grades from Study.com, Charter Oak will enter those grades as 'P' in your Advising Worksheet. It happened to me today. I had 4 classes that I got 'A's for and instead of helping my GPA, they simply count as fulfilling a course objective and not toward the GPA! Bummer. My grades from Davar Academy and Straighterline came in as letter grades. Study.com is the easiest of the 3 when it comes to completing LL (lower level) courses, for sure.***

I'm going to request a Study.com transcript directly to be sent to Charter Oak and hope that has some effect on getting those 'P's turned into 'A's. I'll keep you all advised!

Yes, this is standard at every college that accepts ACE.  In order to get grades, it has to come from Study.com directly.

Jennifer,

Well, this just got more interesting, because I did send my official transcript from Study.com to COSC, and they're being difficult with regards to assigning a letter grade from that transcript. I would expect that from some non-critically thinking government functionary, but not an "institute of higher learning". I'm attaching the email I sent to my academic counselor, which includes your post from 12/14/18.

Hi Karen,

Thanks for checking, but that seems quite the cop-out answer, since the ONLY reason Study.com doesn't include grades on their transcripts is that they allow the receiving institution to designate the the letter grade based on the given percentage score, which Study.com does provide, and how that score aligns with that school's grading scale policy. Not all schools have the standard A = 90 - 100, B = 80 - 89, etc. grading scale. It is for that reason that Study.com doesn't list the grade, but they DO list the "grade" as a final percentage score very clearly on the transcript.... Victor got a 91% in Management Information Systems, etc. Charter Oak knows what a 91% is....

Also, I have the following information from another Charter Oak student, that actually contradicts that current information from the registrar's office, with the registrar's office own words (found here: https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-Charter-Oak-Straighterline-Grades?highlight=study.com+transcript):

[YOUR POST FROM 12-14-18 INSERTED HERE]

As you can see, that was from just 4 months ago. This was also the reason that I sent a "comprehensive transcript" from Study.com, as the above communication seems to give equal treatment to both providers with regards to grades.

If Charter Oak is going to treat all transfer credits from Study.com in a different manner now, then the very least responsible thing to do is to warn prospective students that that is their policy, and that was never done! Also, the message from Charter Oak has been inconsistent on this, even while the affiliation between Study.com and Charter Oak has been a "selling" point to prospective students by both parties. Now the message is "You can use Study.com, but it most certainly won't help your GPA!"

Again, I feel somewhat robbed by this experience. My Straighterline courses DID come through for grades, so it does confirm what Jennifer was told in the exchange above. 6 courses (5 with As already in, and a potential 6th) are 18 total credits which would have some positive impact on my GPA (I haven't done the math yet, but along with the Capstone would likely push me to a 3.6 - it's competitive out there, and it's a matter of pride in one's work).

We deserve consistency. If you feel that it would be better for me to take this up personally with the registrar's office, then I am happy to do so. I just can't believe that's the response they gave. It's cold and uncaring to see a percentage grade score and then dismiss it with a "P", when you very well know how those scores align to your own grades policy. If you're implying that a 91% at Study.com isn't the same as a 91% at Charter Oak, then you need to be open and clear about that also.

I really look forward to your input on this. Once again, thank you.

Best regards,

Victor

If you send transcripts from Study.com or SL directly to COSC (not through ACE), then COSC gives a letter grade to it.

BUT, if you send the transcripts from ACE, then you get a "P."  This has been explained time and again.  ACE does not give COSC a score, they only send through a transcript saying that you passed.

And if you sent an ACE transcript to COSC and THEN try to send the transcript, it's too late, they've already credited the course to you from ACE and they won't change it.

This was explained on a separate thread from Jennifer, but obviously it wasn't looked at before the ACE transcript was sent.

dfrecore,

Thank you for responding here. You're quite clear and I appreciate that, but bear in mind that while I'm grateful for this resource of information (degreeforum.net), it takes quite a bit of treasure hunting to get a specific response to a specific question

I want to ask you one thing about what you posted. You said, "And if you sent an ACE transcript to COSC and THEN try to send the transcript, it's too late, they've already credited the course to you from ACE and they won't change it." What is the rationale behind that? Are their processes written in stone? Is it an impossibility or too great an inconvenience to have somebody take the 2 minutes to access the digital records and change the "P"s to "A"s?

I'm just look for rational answers. If you don't know the answer, that's fine. People keep characterizing my dissatisfaction as irrational or unimportant, yet I know that I worked hard for those "A"s - 5 going on 6, and had I known that this would be the result I would have done everything possible to avoid Study.com knowing that they're not weighting my GPA based on my efforts with them, yet are counting other sources such as Davar and Straighterline toward the GPA calculation.

Thank you for bearing with me and, of course, I appreciate any input you wish to share.

Victor

[basicunitoflife]

Inside a different thread I mentioned that I was trying something to see if it worked- and I want to post the results.

Straighterline and Studycom courses sent directly from SL or SDC will come into Charter Oak with a grade.  If you place them on an ACE transcript first and send them to COSC, they come in as pass/fail.

Using my son's account, I sent his ACE transcript to COSC and had it evaluated.  Separately, I selected some SL courses with letter grades and had that transcript sent to COSC.  My goal/question was to see if I could get his A/B grades on his transcript but leave his C grades as "pass."  

Their reply was as follows:
<<< Thank you for your email.  When you applied to the college you sent in an ACE transcript for evaluation.  We transferred all the Straighterline courses recommended for credit from that transcript.  Because ACE does not indicate letter grades, all SL courses were recorded with a grade of ‘P’.  At this time, if you wish, you may have a comprehensive Straighterline transcript sent to us; the one received recently is incomplete.  Once the comprehensive transcript arrives we will convert all SL courses to the actual letter grades you earned.  Alternately, you can leave the evaluation as is; showing a letter grade of ‘P’ as reflected on the ACE transcript.  Charter Oak State College does not allow students to pick/choose or mix/match transcripts to show some letter grades and not others.  We will evaluate one transcript: the ACE transcript or the SL transcript.  I have discussed this with our Registrar and she confirmed this.  Please let us know which transcript you would like us to evaluate.    >>>

So, my son has ONE class through SL that was not on his ACE transcript, so I sent that one separately.  They allowed that grade to come over.

So- here's the deal, if you think you want to control how all of this is eventually entered on a transcript at COSC, you can send anything you DONT want to have  a grade directly to ACE and then to COSC, and the graded credits go directly to COSC from Study/SL.  Once everything is entered on the COSC transcript, be sure to go back and THEN send the rest of your Study/SL courses over to your ACE transcript so they aren't lost or in the event that you might need to transfer them somewhere else.

This was a good experiment and added a lot to my understanding about how COSC accepts transfer credit.

Have you been able to find a CLEAR degree plan for business at Charter Oaks?

[cookderosa]

Inside a different thread I mentioned that I was trying something to see if it worked- and I want to post the results.

Straighterline and Studycom courses sent directly from SL or SDC will come into Charter Oak with a grade.  If you place them on an ACE transcript first and send them to COSC, they come in as pass/fail.

Using my son's account, I sent his ACE transcript to COSC and had it evaluated.  Separately, I selected some SL courses with letter grades and had that transcript sent to COSC.  My goal/question was to see if I could get his A/B grades on his transcript but leave his C grades as "pass."  

Their reply was as follows:
<<< Thank you for your email.  When you applied to the college you sent in an ACE transcript for evaluation.  We transferred all the Straighterline courses recommended for credit from that transcript.  Because ACE does not indicate letter grades, all SL courses were recorded with a grade of ‘P’.  At this time, if you wish, you may have a comprehensive Straighterline transcript sent to us; the one received recently is incomplete.  Once the comprehensive transcript arrives we will convert all SL courses to the actual letter grades you earned.  Alternately, you can leave the evaluation as is; showing a letter grade of ‘P’ as reflected on the ACE transcript.  Charter Oak State College does not allow students to pick/choose or mix/match transcripts to show some letter grades and not others.  We will evaluate one transcript: the ACE transcript or the SL transcript.  I have discussed this with our Registrar and she confirmed this.  Please let us know which transcript you would like us to evaluate.    >>>

So, my son has ONE class through SL that was not on his ACE transcript, so I sent that one separately.  They allowed that grade to come over.

So- here's the deal, if you think you want to control how all of this is eventually entered on a transcript at COSC, you can send anything you DONT want to have  a grade directly to ACE and then to COSC, and the graded credits go directly to COSC from Study/SL.  Once everything is entered on the COSC transcript, be sure to go back and THEN send the rest of your Study/SL courses over to your ACE transcript so they aren't lost or in the event that you might need to transfer them somewhere else.

This was a good experiment and added a lot to my understanding about how COSC accepts transfer credit.

Have you been able to find a CLEAR degree plan for business at Charter Oaks?

My son isn't doing their business degree anymore- he switched to an individualized studies option for hospitality which is his career.

[lacussucceed]

In the end, did Study courses ever receive a letter grade? If so which scale is used?