Problem transferring SL Lab Courses to COSC

[J_T]

My unofficial advising worksheet was made available this morning at COSC's Acorn portal. :hurray: It's still missing the last SL transcript I sent in (for the last 4 SL courses I took: Anthropology, Business, Am. Gov. and Microbiology w/Lab)... but I'm assuming they will be added soon.

Everything else looked fine.. except.. I sent in 47 credits and only 45 transferred. I thought 'no big deal' since I had 3 credits to spare anyways... but when I looked at which credits were missing.. I found out they did not give me credit for either the Chemistry Lab or the Biology Lab (those two courses are being listed as 3 credits and not the 4 credits a lab course should have)... therefore, my advising worksheet says I did not meet the Natural Sciences requirement! :mad: That really pissed me off... since SL clearly says they are both transferrable as 4 credits and meet the natural science requirements... not to mention the $500 bucks I paid in lab kits.

So.. I guess I just wanted to vent and see if anyone else had that problem before. I was going to send my advisor an e-mail, but I think I will wait until she sends the official evaluation worksheet.

Here's the print of the science requirement portion of my worksheet:

[ATTACH=CONFIG]1177[/ATTACH]

And here's the breakdown:

[ATTACH=CONFIG]1178[/ATTACH]

[J_T]

Ok.. I think I found out what the problem might be. Apparently, SL changed the Biology w/Lab and Chemistry w/Lab courses recently. When I took them earlier this year, they were listed as one 4-credit course each.

However, SL has now split the courses in two: the core (non-lab portion) worth 3 credits and the lab portion separate worth 1 credit. Obviously with the purpose of making more $$$.

To make matters worse, I just logged in to my SL account.. and all the lab assignments (lab reports and lab photos) have been erased from both courses. At least the titles still read "Biology with Lab" and "Chemistry with Lab"... so hopefully I'll be able to get that cleared up.

Those greedy mofo's... they better not screw me out of $500 in lab kits and all those boring labs I had to do. :toetap:

[publius2k4]

Ok.. I think I found out what the problem might be. Apparently, SL changed the Biology w/Lab and Chemistry w/Lab courses recently. When I took them earlier this year, they were listed as one 4-credit course each.

However, SL has now split the courses in two: the core (non-lab portion) worth 3 credits and the lab portion separate worth 1 credit. Obviously with the purpose of making more $$$.

To make matters worse, I just logged in to my SL account.. and all the lab assignments (lab reports and lab photos) have been erased from both courses. At least the titles still read "Biology with Lab" and "Chemistry with Lab"... so hopefully I'll be able to get that cleared up.

Those greedy mofo's... they better not screw me out of $500 in lab kits and all those boring labs I had to do. :toetap:

You obviously have the labs listed on your transcript already. However, you need at least 4 credits in the "w/lab" area and 7 credits overall in the natural sciences area. I'm quite certain that once your Microbiology course gets added, it will show that the requirement has been met.

[J_T]

You obviously have the labs listed on your transcript already. However, you need at least 4 credits in the "w/lab" area and 7 credits overall in the natural sciences area. I'm quite certain that once your Microbiology course gets added, it will show that the requirement has been met.

I hope so. But shouldn't I have met the 4 credits in the "w/lab" area already??? I have both Chemistry w/lab and Biology w/lab... which should be worth 4 credits each and 8 credits total. So either one of them should have met the 4 credit lab requirement and together they should have met the overall science requirement. Right?

[publius2k4]

I hope so. But shouldn't I have met the 4 credits in the "w/lab" area already??? I have both Chemistry w/lab and Biology w/lab... which should be worth 4 credits each and 8 credits total. So either one of them should have met the 4 credit lab requirement and together they should have met the overall science requirement. Right?

The breakdown shows that both requirements have been met (green checks) and that the natural science portion has not been met. It's because you do not yet have the total overall credits needed. Once you get another credit in ANY natural science, it will be met.

[J_T]

The breakdown shows that both requirements have been met (green checks) and that the natural science portion has not been met. It's because you do not yet have the total overall credits needed. Once you get another credit in ANY natural science, it will be met.

I kinda get what your saying. But... I should already have met the natural science requirement without needing microbiology. I already have 8 credits in natural sciences (chem w/lab and bio w/lab). I shouldn't need 3 natural science courses (all of them w/lab) to meet the natural science requirement. Or am I missing something?

For example, if I hadn't taken microbiology (which I chose as a free elective) I wouldn't have met the natural science requirement??? That just doesn't make any sense... since I have two 4-credit natural science courses: chemistry w/lab and biology w/lab.

I know I still have microbiology. But how about other people?

[publius2k4]

I kinda get what your saying. But... I should already have met the natural science requirement without needing microbiology. I already have 8 credits in natural sciences (chem w/lab and bio w/lab). I shouldn't need 3 natural science courses (all of them w/lab) to meet the natural science requirement. Or am I missing something?

For example, if I hadn't taken microbiology (which I chose as a free elective) I wouldn't have met the natural science requirement??? That just doesn't make any sense... since I have two 4-credit natural science courses: chemistry w/lab and biology w/lab.

I know I still have microbiology. But how about other people?

If Straighterline's transcript only shows the course as being a 3 credit course (even with lab included) COSC will only accept it as a 3 credit course.

I had this same situation with a course I had taken at WGU. The course was a 2 credit Literature course, but it didn't meet the Fine Arts requirement because it was only 2 credits. I asked the registrar if I could get an exception, since the course was equivalent to a 3 credit course, but the registrar said that COSC does not grant exceptions on that basis.

Don't sweat it too much. I'm quite certain that you've already met the requirements.

[cookderosa]

I kinda get what your saying. But... I should already have met the natural science requirement without needing microbiology. I already have 8 credits in natural sciences (chem w/lab and bio w/lab). I shouldn't need 3 natural science courses (all of them w/lab) to meet the natural science requirement. Or am I missing something?

For example, if I hadn't taken microbiology (which I chose as a free elective) I wouldn't have met the natural science requirement??? That just doesn't make any sense... since I have two 4-credit natural science courses: chemistry w/lab and biology w/lab.

I know I still have microbiology. But how about other people?

>>

I think I'm with you on your assessment. I don't like how they are listing your w/labs as only 3 each. You should contact COSC to clear this up. Whether or not SL lists it as 3+1 or 4 shouldn't matter.

[J_T]

>>

I think I'm with you on your assessment. I don't like how they are listing your w/labs as only 3 each. You should contact COSC to clear this up. Whether or not SL lists it as 3+1 or 4 shouldn't matter.

If Straighterline's transcript only shows the course as being a 3 credit course (even with lab included) COSC will only accept it as a 3 credit course.

I had this same situation with a course I had taken at WGU. The course was a 2 credit Literature course, but it didn't meet the Fine Arts requirement because it was only 2 credits. I asked the registrar if I could get an exception, since the course was equivalent to a 3 credit course, but the registrar said that COSC does not grant exceptions on that basis.

Don't sweat it too much. I'm quite certain that you've already met the requirements.

Thanks for the input guys. These two courses are listed in the SL-COSC articulation agreement as worth 4 credits each and meeting the full science requirement at COSC. Which is the norm.. since most colleges award 4 credits for science courses with lab. They are also recommended as 4 credits by ACE.

I will bring this up with my advisor when she sends me the official evaluation.

[NatashaB]

I'd be interested to know how this turns out, since I need to submit my Biology with lab to COSC shortly.