Seriously worried—almost all of degree university-level courses = grade 12 courses

[pws]

I just got the draft of my credit evaluation, and I'm completely destroyed about the results. 

For the needed background, the Canadian college I went to is basically equivalent to a community college, and in my province we also only do up to grade 11 (rather than grade 12 in the US). Normally, to attend a college outside of the province I live in, I would first need to take 1 year's worth of introductory courses to then be accepted. 

Now here's the thing: because of this, the credit evaluation company considers that the first part of my college degree as being the equivalent to grade 12 courses, and the last years of the degree to university-level courses. No matter what courses you took, even if these are given at US universities, LL or UL, or 110 credits during the first part of the degree, they are considered grade 12 courses, only on the basis of when those courses were taken. 

This is worrisome, but it doesn't stop there: 
- My degree is in music, and the last years of the degree are almost only music courses
- I did the extra optional year to turn the basic/general music degree into a combined music performance/composition degree
- I had health problems and had to extend the duration of my studies
- I also added a bunch of social science courses to have the requisites to do a BA in psychology (my alternative plan)

Now, normally, I would have taken 3 years to complete my degree, and the first year would have been considered as my grade 12. However, because the full duration of my studies was of 5 years, the credit evaluation considers the courses I took during the 3 first years as grade 12 courses! 

So, with all of that, the credit evaluation company deems only my last music courses to be of value (even some that were invented by the school I attended), while all the following courses are deemed grade 12 courses:

• Philosophy I
  
• Philosophy II
  
• Introduction to Psychology 
  
• Film Analysis
  
• 2x Advanced French literature courses
  
• Quantitive methods
  
• Music History I, II and III (which TESU offers)
  
• Others
  

- 20 courses out of the 45 (brick-and-mortar) college courses I took were evaluated
- Out of those 20 courses, 16 are music courses
- Only 5 courses out of the 20 (and 45 total) will be transferable for sure

...because of the illogical definition/criteria for evaluating my particular educational path. 

I'm really bummed out.   Anyone have any suggestions?

[posabsolute]

Not sure if you are talking about the cégep system, I was basically in the same situation as you, I did another program (without finishing it) before and those credit were wiped out and i ended up with awkward credits like internship.

Basically, this isn’t university, and because of how we are setup (grade 12 and college level combined in a degree) your number of credits is set by the degree awarded, you could take a 100 courses there, it would be same credit award. As far as I know they tend to credits the last courses you did, maybe that is contestable?

Depending on the degree you were looking for, I’m not a tesu bals expert, but I think they could fit?

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[dfrecore]

What credit evaluation company did you use? You might try another one.

Your other option is to go to a Canadian school instead, if you were able to get more credit. There's one they discuss on this forum sometimes, but I can't remember the name.

[posabsolute]

In general, Canadian universities won’t give you more credits, this would only happen with certain 3y programs using specific rules.


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[Sacricolist]

What about Athabasca University there in Canada ? https://www.athabascau.ca/

[Tedium]

What credit evaluation company did you use?  You might try another one.

Your other option is to go to a Canadian school instead, if you were able to get more credit.  There's one they discuss on this forum sometimes, but I can't remember the name.

I think you’re thinking of Athabasca University. It’s the only US Regionally accredited Canadian University.

That could help with the sticky transfer, but I don’t know about Canadian higher learning to say for sure.

@pws: don’t fret too much. Many members here have found themselves in your position. People feel the same sort of frustration and panic when they try to transfer a Nationally Accredited degree to a Regionally Accredited school. Little to nothing transfers over and they feel as if they have wasted a huge chunk of time and money, but those same people start back from the bottom and burn through some new credits and get their diplomas in record time. 

Don’t be too discouraged.

[davewill]

I would say that the courses you are missing are the easiest ones to get from alternative credit sources. Rather than worry about them not transferring, I would just start banging them out from SDC, SL, or OD. If you remember anything from them, and you're diligent, you could cover them all in a few months, certainly in under a year.

[bjcheung77]

davewill is right on the ball with this one, since you're in Quebec Canada, I would recommend the StraighterLine/Study.com as mentioned in the post above. SL for Lower Level and SDC for Upper Level requirements. There many international students that are on this board and I recommend them these two for the bulk, if not all the credits required for a BALS or BSBA.

For example, check out this link - the person finished 27 StraighterLine courses for their LL requirements in 2.5 months and is now working on the Study.com courses to round out the degree. https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...pid=283081

I highly recommend quickly finishing courses on Straighterline as their are monthly membership pricing in addition to the course price, the same goes with Study.com - I usually recommend doing at minimum 2 courses at Study.com and taking an extra exam or two at $70/additional exam. The only way to save money on either platform is to take more courses - as many as you can handle...

Final note: Did you apply to TESU and have you completed the Cornerstone requirement? If not, you're most likely on the 2019a catalog where you need to do a Cornerstone course. If it's a BALS you're looking for, you may want to consider COSC as well, if you're looking at competency based, Brandman is an option too.

[Old Guy]

The rest of Canada now has essentially the same system as the US or very close. Everything in Quebec is different simply to be different.

[zzzz24]

cegep definitely isn't the same as going to an actual community college, which is why there would be less credits awarded for sure, it is almost an extension of secondary.

I'm in Ontario and we had grade 9,10,11,12,OAC, but now it is just 9-12.

I went to a 2 year community college after high-school and all of my courses were awarded credit, although a large portion just didn't fit into my actual degree plan.

Did you go through WES to be evaluated? I would assume all of the major evaluators would be familiar with the cegep system.

There's people on here that started with zero credit and earned a degree in less than a year, so I wouldn't worry so much.