Major Disappointment w/ COSC

[jb3861]

Can someone please help me?

I finally spoke with my adviser today and was completely and utterly floored with the conversation. Now, the advisor was courteous, but in so many words told me I had nothing to work with when it came to my 60 credits. I couldn't choose an Individualized degree plan nor a Liberal Arts path either. I would have to select a Business Admin concentration if I wanted to finish quickly. I have over 20 years of solid management experience with the last 10 being at a Director or higher level in large fortune 500 companies, yet there is no way to test out of my upper level 15 credits and that I probably have to realistically look at graduating next year!!!! That there was no way for me to finish even by August! Now I am already enrolled to start my Cornerstone 101 course on 3/26, so can someone tell me what I am missing here? Please?

I have just taken my first CLEP - Analyzing and Interpreting Literature (which I studied about 5 hours for and scored a 68!!!) I also have the following: All brick and mortar i.e. CC's and Penn State

3 Fiery Furnace STS 150
3 Survey of Microcomputer Uses SCS 150
1 Microcomputer Setup/Maint BPC 125
2 Word: Level 1
1 Computer Config/Enhancement BPC 225
3 Excel Spreadsheet CIS 114D
1 PowerPoint: Level 1 CIS 118
1 Windows OS: Level 1 CIS 121A
1 Windows OS: Level 2 CIS 122A
3 Programming Fundamentals CIS 150
1 Elementry German 1
4 Elementry German 2
5 Pre-Calculus Mth 160
3 Intro to Logic PHI 120
3 Analyzing & Interpreting Literature
3 Intro to Psychology 110
6 Eng Comp 101 / 102
3 Effective Speech 100
3 Math 130
4 Biology 160 w/ lab
---
54 total credits plus the latest 6 from the CLEP makes a total of 60…. I may be missing something, and I really am just looking for an outside opinion that would be greatly appreciated.

[burbuja0512]

I'm so sorry about your experience. Your advisor is just plain wrong... maybe you have a new person or someone who hasn't worked with testing students before.

First of all, I took 9 months from beginning to end and only started off with 24 B&M credits. Secondly, why settle for liberal arts or individualized studies when a biz admin concentration is so much more useful? (especially with your experience) Just use my CPS and you should be able to get through it without any coursework other than: Cornerstone and Capstone. I did have to take accounting I and II through Straighterline, but that's not a big deal at all.

I have attached my CPS - you can go back to the advisor and show this CPS. OR you can discuss with the registrar or a different advisor. I know you don't want to upset your advisor, but email Doris Cassiday if you have to. She is the best - she was my advisor and they even have an award named after her. If you need more details or help on this, email me at burbuja0512@yahoo.com.

Not everyone understands testing... even at testing-friendly schools. It's common to get a wrong answer or two before getting the right one. Don't give up!!

[rebel100]

Try another advisor. I had Mr. Adgers who not only steered me right but made several suggestions on approaches to finishing quickly. I think you got a newby or caught someone on a bad day. Remember too that "testing out" is not the norm at COSC. I think we can get you guided through a program. Take a look at Burbuja's CPS and let us know what you want to do, the folks here at IC will help you get it sorted out. If you do your part I think finishing by the end of the year is well within your grasp!

Doris Cassiday is phenominal BTW....I had her too once I was admitted.

[rebel100]

Consider Organizational Management as a concentration within a BS liberal studies framework.

I think the entire 27 hours UL can be done cheaply via DSST/TECEP/and EC test....all around $100 each. (remember 3 credits UL will be in the form of the capstone experience for a total of 30)

http://www2.tesc.edu/listalltecep.php
http://www.excelsior.edu/ecapps/exams/cr...m.jsf?gw=1 (some are waaay expensive, but not the ones you need)
http://www.free-clep-prep.com/dantes-exams.html business ethics would be a twofer satisfying both the ethics requirement and adding 3 UL credits. MIS looks like it would be an easy one for you as well. The LL HRM and Org Theory fit into the Org. Leadership CPS nicely.

You also need a few gen eds like ethics and global understanding.

Add a half dozen business or liberal arts courses here and there like Principles of Management, Principles of marketing, and Supervision.

Finish up with 9 or so FEMA for free electives.

A great deal of the business courses will overlap...FEMA you can do in a weekend, and pick stuff you know and like for the rest....very doable in a year.

Remember this is still very much the exceptional course....most students transfer in courses taken elsewhere or take them at COSC via distance...you are part of an elite team of highly motivated and crafty higher education operatives known as the IC forum. we take no prisoners and pause for no one!

[sanantone]

My COSC advisor told me I could not finish my degree before the end of the year around the middle of 2011. That's not the reason I chose TESC though. COSC didn't take any of my credits as UL and it doesn't accept that many social science tests as UL. I ended up finishing all of my requirements at TESC within a few months of enrolling. I went from 64 credits to over 120. COSC is a little more flexible now that it accepts FEMA credits for free. And getting UL business credit at COSC should be easier than social science as Burbuja's plan indicates.

Isn't your advisor supposed to evaluate your credits for COSC equivalents and show you where they go within a degree program? That's a pretty objective thing to do and shouldn't differ between advisors. COSC has a master list of exams. How hard is it for your advisor to look at that?

[jb3861]

I just wanted to take a minute and say thank you to all who responded to my post! Your feedback was appreciated and helped me take a step back and reconsider everything. I again feel confident that I can test out of the needed courses, especially after the "burbuja0512" example.

I look forward to updating on here regularly until my goal of graduating has been met!! Next is Cornerstone 101

Thanks again,
JB3861

[dietribr]

Id have to say everyone has been nice, except my introductory adviser or whatever you want to call him. Huge headache, and I am probably going have to chalk up the 75 app fee as a sunk cost and look into the other 2 big schools and see if they can get me to graduate at the end of this summer.

[rebel100]

Id have to say everyone has been nice, except my introductory adviser or whatever you want to call him. Huge headache, and I am probably going have to chalk up the 75 app fee as a sunk cost and look into the other 2 big schools and see if they can get me to graduate at the end of this summer.

As soon as your accepted you get a new adviser...why not see what they have to say...won't cost you anything additional except your official transcripts...what do they say you are lacking to graduate this summer?

[frankiebleyes]

I have no experience with COSC, but have seen all the complaints over the past two years regarding TESC communication, etc. However, after my initial evaluation they worked with me the first time around without ever giving me a hard time. I became ill and funds dried up (both my son and I were about to enroll to try to graduate). Two years later, we are both now enrolled. Every question I pose is immediately answered. Financial aid processed me within a few days in order to enable me to pay for my own classes and enrollment fee and aid in paying my son's enrollment fee. By days, I mean literally less than a week. We are both now awaiting updated evaluation reports, we both are enrolled for April 1st and both looking forward to graduating by the end of the year. We both have lost some credits and hope to gain some.

In the meantime my oldest is in the wings needing less than 20 hours and my husband less than 15. Eventually, it will be a family thing "all four graduated from TESC." I'm looking forward in pride to the day. My grandson is going to attend regular state college, but thanks to this site is taking ACE courses, clepping some courses and even taking AP.

Don't give up, if my of the Big Three doesn't fit try another. Don't give up. That is what I keep telling myself. I wasn't going to finish just help my son to finish, but my husband told me to go for it. I deserve to finish what I started. Just because I am sick doesn't mean that obtaining my degree doesn't mean anything to me.

I wish you nothing but the best, but shift gears, find another way and go on to do what you want, not what some advisor wants for his own means (job).

[dietribr]

As soon as your accepted you get a new adviser...why not see what they have to say...won't cost you anything additional except your official transcripts...what do they say you are lacking to graduate this summer?

I have all gen ed requirements...and am currently lacking 6 upper level credits for my concentration (capstone would give me 3) and i am also lacking 6-9 credits UL elective credits. All of these i plan to test out of. If needed I could drop everything and go crazy with study mode and probably have them done in a week or two.

They told me i cant graduate until December. I cant start taking their cornerstone class till June 1 and then the earliest i could start taking the capstone is sometime in august, and then after that i would have to wait until December to officially graduate.

I thought i could try to take capstone and cornerstone together or worse case take the cornerstone this spring and then capstone in summer. I guess i was wrong. I really hate the name Thomas Edison, and I really do not know if i can save up the 2000+ at once.

So someone with 100+ semester credits from a 4 year univeristy (albeit missing a lot of upper level credit), depending on when you finally get matriculated could take 9 months to finish their capstone, cornerstone, then wait for graduation.

I always get screwed lol.


*I did try emailing someone mentioned in this thread and i was told the same thing i was told previously.