Online Degrees and CLEP and DSST Exam Prep Discussion
ENG COMP I & II - SDC, SL or Sophia - Printable Version

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+--- Thread: ENG COMP I & II - SDC, SL or Sophia (/Thread-ENG-COMP-I-II-SDC-SL-or-Sophia)

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ENG COMP I & II - SDC, SL or Sophia - any4yeardegree - 04-24-2026

I need to take English Composition I and II.  I've read through this thread but don't have my answer:  https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-The-official-guide-to-courses-by-Straighterline-Study-et-al-We-want-YOUR-input

I plan to transfer them to UMPI.  I've read to take them at UMPI as they *were*, emphasis "were", much faster at UMPI.  However, some recent threads have indicated the Prof teaching Eng Comp II at UMPI is extremely difficult to please, even when following the rubric exactly as stated.  Someone stated they were half way through the 8 week session and not even half way through Eng Comp II.  To me, that's unacceptable and not something I want to deal with.  I realize I'm likely to experience other Profs that will be unpleasant, however, that's an unknown variable and this issue with this particular Prof has been documented multiple times ...  why take that risk if I don't have too.

I've also heard Eng Comp II at Sophia is basically the same situation except there seem to be more Profs that are difficult to deal with even when the rubric is followed exactly.  There also seems to be many complaints to Sophia about these Profs.  I'm unaware if the issue has been resolved or remains as a concern.

I'm willing to do more work when the instructions are clear and the Prof follows the rubrics, provides good feedback and is fair to everyone.

For my given use case, should I try Sophia or skip it?  What about Study.com or Straighterline?

Btw, I also need the following and plan to take those at Sophia unless there's a good reason to take them at SDC or SL:  
  • US Govt
  • Human Biology
  • Human Biology Lab
  • Enviro Science
  • Spanish I
  • Spanish II
  • Ancient Philosophers - I have 3 Ethics classes however I'm unsure if UMPI will accept them as GEC credit.

Thanks!
Smile

RE: ENG COMP I & II - SDC, SL or Sophia - any4yeardegree - 04-28-2026

I was hoping to edit the post above but it doesn't appear to be editable. Perhaps this is an easier, more relatable question:

Can anyone provide a recent experience of Eng Comp I and/or II at Sophia, SDC or SL?

Thanks

RE: ENG COMP I & II - SDC, SL or Sophia - Phyexial - 04-28-2026

Not 100% sure, but it looks like you can just do the College Composition CLEP (with essays, not the modular) and UMPI will count that for both ENG I and II (See: https://www.reddit.com/r/UMPI/comments/1iknt3s/clep_composition_question/ & https://www.reddit.com/r/UMPI/comments/1qv9821/clep_comp_question/ & https://mainestreetcs.maine.edu/psp/CSPRDG/EMPLOYEE/SA/c/UM_SA.UM_TRNSFER_GUEST.GBL? - you'll definitely want to confirm with an advisor or something). I just did this a few months ago to bring into TESU (which knocked out both ENG I & II), and and the exam was both free through Modern States, and pretty easy; I definitely spent way less total time doing the single CLEP than trying to do 2 separate courses - maybe 3-4 hours of review in total and the 2 hours for the exam.

To note - I did not do any of the English courses at Sophia, but I have done a bunch with writing assignments/touchstones over the last 2 months, and every paper has been consistently graded between 40-60 hours after submissions, I think you can safely plan each written paper/project at Sophia to take ~2.5 days to grade (incluidng weekends).

RE: ENG COMP I & II - SDC, SL or Sophia - LevelUP - 04-29-2026

I know Sophia has had its issues with the time it takes to grade papers and with harsh grading.

With Study.com, I had no problems. Grading was usually fast (within 24 hours), and the grades were fair.

RE: ENG COMP I & II - SDC, SL or Sophia - Ares - 05-01-2026

Word on the street is Sophia's English Comp II is the most difficult course on the platform.

I recommend English Comp I and Workplace Writing II at Sophia. WWII (lol) was very straightforward.

RE: ENG COMP I & II - SDC, SL or Sophia - any4yeardegree - 05-01-2026

(04-28-2026, 07:37 PM)Eng Comp IIbeing Phyexial Wrote: Not 100% sure, but it looks like you can just do the College Composition CLEP (with essays, not the modular) and UMPI will count that for both ENG I and II (See: https://www.reddit.com/r/UMPI/comments/1iknt3s/clep_composition_question/ & https://www.reddit.com/r/UMPI/comments/1qv9821/clep_comp_question/ & https://mainestreetcs.maine.edu/psp/CSPRDG/EMPLOYEE/SA/c/UM_SA.UM_TRNSFER_GUEST.GBL? - you'll definitely want to confirm with an advisor or something). I just did this a few months ago to bring into TESU (which knocked out both ENG I & II), and and the exam was both free through Modern States, and pretty easy; I definitely spent way less total time doing the single CLEP than trying to do 2 separate courses - maybe 3-4 hours of review in total and the 2 hours for the exam.

To note - I did not do any of the English courses at Sophia, but I have done a bunch with writing assignments/touchstones over the last 2 months, and every paper has been consistently graded between 40-60 hours after submissions, I think you can safely plan each written paper/project at Sophia to take ~2.5 days to grade (incluidng weekends).

@Phyexial, thank you for your well-thought reply.  It would be nice to get both Eng Comp I and II done in a few hours, however, that's unlikely as I find it very challenging to write on demand.  The more on demand something is, the more I become anxious.  Great suggestion, though, especially for someone that doesn't experience anxious moments when commanded to write.

I took several classes on Sophia.org in 2022 and 2023 and remember having a good experience with touchstones being graded fairly and most of them being graded in timely manner.  Time, while it is a concern, isn't as much of an issue as some of the comments I've read about professors not following the rubrics and Sophia taking the side of the professors as well or professors unhappy with the essay topics chosen by the students and subjecting the student to a lower grade due the Professors' opinions not matching those of students.

Perhaps those issues are few and far between in the grand scheme of things and I should just take a leap of faith.
Smile

RE: ENG COMP I & II - SDC, SL or Sophia - any4yeardegree - 05-01-2026

(04-29-2026, 01:27 PM)LevelUP Wrote: I know Sophia has had its issues with the time it takes to grade papers and with harsh grading.

With Study.com, I had no problems. Grading was usually fast (within 24 hours), and the grades were fair.

Thank you for your suggestion.  I'm definitely checking into SDC.  I can accept some extra time to grade but biased grading practices are definitely something I'd like to avoid.  I'm surprised at the issues I've read about since my previous experiences with Sophia have been positive.

RE: ENG COMP I & II - SDC, SL or Sophia - wow - 05-01-2026

Take complaints about any of these services with a grain of salt. Some of them may be valid, but we've also had people come on here complaining about Sophia (etc.) being unfair to them when they were almost certainly in the wrong (as later became clear in the threads). Every school or program I've been a part of, some people have complained about certain teachers/graders where others thought they were amazing. I'm sure any grader can make mistakes, but if they do it as a general habit, the school or service isn't going to keep them around.

My general philosophy is, take what's useful from graders and ignore what isn't--and before dismissing a grade/feedback as misguided, check the assignment requirements again.

RE: ENG COMP I & II - SDC, SL or Sophia - any4yeardegree - 05-02-2026

(05-01-2026, 04:20 PM)Ares Wrote: Word on the street is Sophia's English Comp II is the most difficult course on the platform.

I recommend English Comp I and Workplace Writing II at Sophia. WWII (lol) was very straightforward.

Hey Ares - great user name, btw - thank you for your reply.  

I might be missing something.  The Sophia to UMPI transfer equivalents page doesn't seem to include Workplace Writing II,  https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/UMPI_Sophia_Transfer_Equivalents#Sophia.org_to_GEC_Table , however this page does:  https://mainestreetcs.maine.edu/psp/CSPRDG/EMPLOYEE/SA/c/UM_SA.UM_TRNSFER_GUEST.GBL   There's a conflict.  Any idea how frequently UMPI updates this web page?

Thanks!

RE: ENG COMP I & II - SDC, SL or Sophia - ss20ts - 05-02-2026

UMPI updates the transfer database only when courses are transferred in. It's a record of how courses were transferred in previously with the most recent being the one on record. It's not a guarantee of any kind. It's a guide not something that is carved in stone. Transfer acceptance changes often especially ACE credits. WW in the past has been accepted but UMPI made a lot of changes last year to their acceptance of ACE credits and it may have changed.