Knocking Out Classes at Straighterline

So, it's only been a few weeks since I've blogged but I've been able to finish a butt ton of credits with Straighterline!  So far I've taken,

• Introduction to Religion
• Business Ethics
• US History II
• Introduction to Environmental Science
• Introduction to Business
• Principles of Management
• Cultural Anthropology
• Business Law
• Accounting I
• Organizational Behavior
• Accounting II
• Business Statistics

That list is in order of difficulty, from least to most difficult. Gah, I can't believe I took that many! I just submitted my transcript for admission, and I spoke with my enrollment counselor and she said I have enough time to take a couple more! I'm going to TRY to take College Algebra, Microeconomics, and Macroeconomics. College algebra will count for 7 credits because it covers Intermediate and College algebra for WGU. 

Easiest Straighterline Courses

If you're taking Straighterline classes through a partner college, check course equivalents on Straighterline to see what you can take.

Then go here. See which of your classes have open book exams with a sheet of self-prepared notes allowed.

As of 8/2017 the following courses have open book final exams:

• Accounting I
• Accounting II
• Managerial Accounting
• Financial Accounting
• Introduction to Business
• Business Ethics
• Business Law
• Organizational Behavior
• Principles of Management
• Western Civilization I
• Western Civilization II
• Introduction to Criminal Justice
• Introduction to Communication
• Personal Finance
• Introductory Algebra
• Business Statistics
• CPR First Aid
• Medical Terminology
• Personal Wellness
• Pharmacology I
• Pharmacology II
• Introduction to Religion
• Spanish I
• Spanish II
• Student Success
• US History II

Since these are open book exams, and you can use 1 page (front and back) self-prepared notes, the finals are a breeze. Tips for self-prepared notes:

• Go with typed
• Use Gloucester MT Extra Condensed
• Use the smallest font size you can read - I go with 6. You can manually type it in.
• Make margins .25
• Make spacing 0
• Use columns to maximize space
• Sort alphabetically - Select all, and then on the home tab in the paragraph section, click the AZ icon.

If you're thinking of taking a course that does NOT have a final with an open-book, check the course syllabus. You can do this by searching for the course and clicking 'Course Syllabus'. Most courses show a point breakdown in the syllabus, so while the final may not be open book, it might only count for 10% of the grade! Microeconomics and Macroeconomics are two examples -I believe the finals were worth 12% and 14% of the final grade respectively.

About Straighterline

Staighterline is a company that offers higher education courses. They may or may not be accepted by a higher learning institution. They offer many different courses in their catalog, 59$ for the basic course and 129$ for a course with an instructor. They have a monthly membership fee, 99$, which can be canceled at any time on your profile. Classes are taken at your own pace, as fast or as slow as you want to take them.

Check their website or your prospective institutions website to see if credit can be transferred. If it's not listed, contact your admissions department to be sure. They do have a list of partner colleges on their website here (yours may not be listed) 

You can also see if your college accepts credit from ACE - you can send your Straighterline transcript to ACE to send an ACE transcript to your school. You can make an account or see if the website you're using is ACE accredited here.

Using Straighterline can be a good way to get credits to start at an institution or raise your GPA. Straighterline itself is NOT A COLLEGE it is a COMPANY. So make sure your institution accepts ACE credit! 

Finished Business Ethics and Introduction to Business!

So, I just finished Business Ethics and Introduction to Business with Straighterline. Two weeks wasn't too bad. The classes were fairly easy and the proctored final was open book AND you get to use a page of prepared notes! I won't lie, I did use the search function in the e-book for the final a few times.

I was extremely excited after I finished those and I contacted my enrollment counselor only to find out I'M TOO LATE! Apparently there's a deadline on the first for submitting a transcript for admission. Why would she suggest it to me with a WEEK LEFT IN THE MONTH if I wanted to start on September first?!! I'm a bit frustrated, I just want to start my degree!

I guess I'll take this time to take a few more classes with Straighterline to get a few more credits knocked out on my degree.

The Application Process!

So, after filling out my application with Western Governors University, I received a call within minutes from an enrollment counselor! She said the only thing she's worried about is my lack of college hours. She has suggested I take 3-4 classes with Straighterline. We have my start date set for September 1st!

I also had to take some kind of pre-assessment. It consisted of an essay, reading exam, and math exam. The essay and reading test were easy, and the math was ok. I haven't taken math in almost a decade so some of the concepts were a little fuzzy...

After checking out Straighterline, I've signed up for Introduction to Business and Business Ethics. It seems that you take a few tests, a midterm, and a final. Only the final is proctored. I read a few reviews online and it seems legit. They're ACE accredited, so that's awesome!

Making My Decision

I spoke with an enrollment counselor with both Patten and Western Governors University. I've decided to go with Western Governors University, mainly because of how Patten's model is set up.

The Patten Model:
With Patten you are limited to taking one class at a time, and for each class you have to write 3 papers, do a project, and take a final. You are limited because it takes 2-3 days for the papers to be graded and 5-7 days for a project to be graded! That sucks!

The WGU Model:
With WGU you are given a pre-assessment to gauge your knowledge of the topic, and based on your score with the pre-assessment you can just take the final! So if you already know a ton about something, like maybe you've worked as a tutor in math and you know a ton about math already you can just test out! It's pretty much the degree equivalent of "CLEPing" You're also given more than one class at a time!

With Patten I did like how they set up the interview,  you were able to select a time from an appointment calendar from an e-mail. I wish WGU was set up like that! I have a hard time getting into contact with my enrollment counselor. I have no idea when she works and you have to set up appointments by calling.

Getting Started

So, first things first. I've been wanting to go to college for a long time. It's something I never thought I'd be able to do. Actually, I shouldn't even be doing it now! I should be job hunting! A degree will help with the job though, right? Let's get into this!

For starters, I have two main questions:

• Where should I go? 
• Cheapest
• Quickest
• What should I study?

I'm planning to do my entire degree online, if possible. After some research I've found the top contenders to be (in no specific order)

1. Thomas Edison State University
2. Excelsior
3. Patten University
4. Charter Oak University
5. Western Governors University

The positives with TESU, Charter Oak, and Excelsior are that you can transfer in a butt ton of credits, over 100! However, it's still thousands of dollars to get your degree on top of how much you pay to take those transfer credits, and it would take too long! 

Patten and WGU are both competency based learning(you can go as fast as you can learn) and pretty cost friendly! Patten is 1500 for four months and WGU is 3000 for 6 months, and you can take as many classes as possible.