Online Degrees and CLEP and DSST Exam Prep Discussion
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Straighterline for English Composition? - Merlin - 07-27-2011

Hey folks,

I'm tempted to take the SL English Composition classes as an alternative to the College Composition CLEP, because I'd like to get a letter grade (need graded credits to qualify for honors at COSC), however I've been holding off due to the horror stories I've been hearing about their hit and miss essay grading.

Obviously, if I'm going to suffer GPA wise due to inconsistent grading, then I'm better off doing the class elsewhere or just sitting the CLEP to get a passing grade. I'm also planning to take their Business Communications class, which I believe also has an essay component, so it would also apply there I suppose.

I'm wondering if those of you who've taken those classes have some insight into whether it is worth while to pursue those classes (can you still get a 90+ score in the class?) or if other opportunities might be better?

I will be taking the accounting and economics classes there as well, but given those are not essay based, I'm not too worried about them.

Thanks!

Straighterline for English Composition? - CagedFatKid - 07-27-2011

I might be wrong in this but regaurdless if you make a 90 or a 70 its still a pass or a fail. I just finished my english I and I got an 80 and I spent an average of 1-3 hours on my essays and did all the tests and quizes in 1 day. If you actually try on the essays youll probably get a better grade. Also, the grading is not very consistant but depending on your situation (I am currently deployed so clep is not an opition) either one is going to get you the credit, IMO.

Straighterline for English Composition? - Merlin - 07-27-2011

CagedFatKid Wrote:I might be wrong in this but regaurdless if you make a 90 or a 70 its still a pass or a fail.
I haven't tested this, but from what I've read, as a partner college, Charter Oak has agreed to accept the score from Straighterline for a letter grade rated against the COSC Institutional Grading Policy, so a 90.0-92.9 rates an A- and a 93+ rates an A.
CagedFatKid Wrote:I just finished my english I and I got an 80 and I spent an average of 1-3 hours on my essays and did all the tests and quizes in 1 day. If you actually try on the essays youll probably get a better grade. Also, the grading is not very consistant but depending on your situation (I am currently deployed so clep is not an opition) either one is going to get you the credit, IMO.
So you did all the non-essay based tests in one day, and all of the essays in 1-3 hours and submitted them all at once? Did you use the textbook or just learn from the provided materials? How long did it take to get the essays graded? Did you submit them as drafts first or just for grading? How long start to finish did the class take using that method?

Thanks!

Straighterline for English Composition? - Mechanix26 - 07-27-2011

If you fail to get an "A", could you just submit it to COSC via an ACE transcript, which would simply show you passed it?

Straighterline for English Composition? - irnbru - 07-27-2011

Although there have been a lot of horrorish stories, the basic construct of Straighterline's (SL) English Composition class is gold and provided you follow the basic structure, you really can't go wrong. This class has probably helped me turn in more 'A' papers than anything else I've done academically or professionally.

Additionally, you have options.

You can request that SL report your score directly to an institution. Depending on that institution, you may or may not receive graded credit for it.

Alternatively, you can instruct SL to report your score directly to ACE. Once you have exhausted SL's library of courses, you can have ACE send the transcript to the institution of your choice. ACE records only a pass or fail grade (i.e., over 70%).

If you really wanted to, you could probably mix and match, but maybe choose one or t'other?

In short, it's better to do the SL course than not Smile

Straighterline for English Composition? - costic - 07-27-2011

On this topic, anyone know in any certainty if Excelsior provides a letter Grade for Straighterline transferred directly?

Others may benefit if you have the same info for COSC and TESC.


1) EC Pass/fail or Grade from Straighterline?

2) COSC Pass/fail or Grade from Straighterline?

3) TESC Pass/fail or Grade from Straighterline?

Straighterline for English Composition? - Merlin - 07-27-2011

irnbru Wrote:Although there have been a lot of horrorish stories, the basic construct of Straighterline's (SL) English Composition class is gold and provided you follow the basic structure, you really can't go wrong. This class has probably helped me turn in more 'A' papers than anything else I've done academically or professionally.
So, are you saying that you can do well in the comp classes if the follow the structure, or that you can do well in OTHER classes if you follow the structure learned from SL elsewhere? Or perhaps both? Smile

I'm coming back to school after taking 25 years off, so while I'm confident in my testing ability (I've always been great at tests) I'm a bit concerned about my essay writing skills. I've done tons of business and technical writing in my professional life, but it doesn't use any specific type of style guide, and didn't require me to write 5x5 paragraphs on specific subjects, etc. Heck, if I've ever taken an English comp class before at all, I don't remember it. Wink

So, I want to insure that I do well, not just for the grade (though that is important to me as well from a GPA perspective) but so I master the style and writing elements that I will need to be successful in non-testing educational environments. Particularly if I do end up pursuing a post-graduate education. I study well on my own, so I am sure I could just study the OWL texts and such to get the basics, but that doesn't give much feedback, which might be needed to excel here.

I think taking the SL class (or something similar) is probably the best bet, but I wanted to make sure its possible to do well in the class and not have to fight with their funky grading issues.

irnbru Wrote:Additionally, you have options.

You can request that SL report your score directly to an institution. Depending on that institution, you may or may not receive graded credit for it.

Alternatively, you can instruct SL to report your score directly to ACE. Once you have exhausted SL's library of courses, you can have ACE send the transcript to the institution of your choice. ACE records only a pass or fail grade (i.e., over 70%).

If you really wanted to, you could probably mix and match, but maybe choose one or t'other?

In short, it's better to do the SL course than not Smile
Hmm, I didn't realize I could pick and choose which classes to submit or in what manner. I just assumed that it would work like most transcripts where it is all or nothing, so if I sent anything to COSC they'd get everything.

If you can pick and choose, there might be a rationale for sending certain classes to ACE but not others. Have you been able to confirm that it works that way?

Thanks!

Straighterline for English Composition? - costic - 07-30-2011

CagedFatKid Wrote:I might be wrong in this but regaurdless if you make a 90 or a 70 its still a pass or a fail. I just finished my english I and I got an 80 and I spent an average of 1-3 hours on my essays and did all the tests and quizes in 1 day. If you actually try on the essays youll probably get a better grade. Also, the grading is not very consistant but depending on your situation (I am currently deployed so clep is not an opition) either one is going to get you the credit, IMO.

Did you skip the Research Report?

Straighterline for English Composition? - hkhart - 07-30-2011

I'm taking Eng I (edited from II) right now and you have to submit something for each assignment. The research paper is 6 pages double spaced, max of 1250 words. I haven't done it yet, but I'm hoping to have all 6 assignments started and completed this weekend.

Straighterline for English Composition? - costic - 07-30-2011

hkhart Wrote:I'm taking Eng II right now and you have to submit something for each assignment. The research paper is 6 pages double spaced, max of 1250 words. I haven't done it yet, but I'm hoping to have all 6 assignments started and completed this weekend.

Thanks for the feedback. It sounds like you're targeting one week to complete this course including the research paper?

The amount of time I can devote to these are limited on my end so when I see one week, would that mean 8-10 hours a day for 7 days or 1 hr a day for 7 days to define that week?

One week for me equates to 3-5 hours total in terms of spending time on exams/clep/SL etc
I started ENG I at SL and currently waiting for the 5B to get enabled so I can submit my essay.
I like your idea of knocking out all of the essays at the same time so I may push forward to get as much done today.


Thanks