SouthernDrawl

I did my Chemistry and several other pre-req’s online at Utah State University and was accepted into several programs for grad school the following semester. Very straightforward experience and I was able to finish them while working full time!

Western Kentucky!

Be sure you let them know ahead of time that you are applying to multiple schools with one letter, so they shouldn't mention any school by name!

For CSDCAS, yes. The policy is very cut and dry. You'll need to read your other Uni's specific application directions to determine this if they don't use CSDCAS. Most Universities are also very clear that they want all transcripts, so I would still vote yes. There are people on this site who will say "no." But if you feel uneasy about omitting them, I would let your gut be your guide. It is usually wiser than people on the internet (however well-meaning they may be).

I was you this time last year, and now I am starting grad school in the fall! Utah State University is the program I chose. Good luck! I am sure you will love the field.

@mcamp covered most everything I would say. OP knew someone who did this and asked them about it. If that was the authority she sought, she wouldn't have posted here. The conflation of HIPPA, ETS policies, and the EU's right to be forgotten laws with personal beliefs about what "counts" in one's academic history is a fallacy. What counts is what they say counts. OP, sorry to have spiraled off into public policy debate. Don't forget that your SoP can be a wonderful way to explain any deviations in the academic achievement you are capable of. Many have used this subjective portion of their application to shed light on the objective. Best of luck to you!

?? You don't have to be an authority to express an opinion that the action she specifically asked her peers about on a forum is academically or morally dubious.

I wouldn't go through the application process until I had, at minimum, a 2.5 cumulative and a 3.0 last 60. It is exorbitantly expensive, especially if you're hedging your bets with many applications. Sit down with an Excel spreadsheet and figure out what you need to get there. My guess is, you'll need many of the prereqs before applying to make the math come out, keeping in mind that you have to wait until a term is over for a couple of weeks before you can factor them into your GPA on CSDCAS (otherwise, they're just in process). Then make Magoosh your best friend. Good luck!

I think Tennessee State's online MS starts in January.

"I was reading online that you have to include all transcripts of all institutes applied to." Were you reading this on the webpage of the schools you were applying to? If so, I think you have your very black-and-white answer. CSDCAS doesn't leave wiggle room on this. If your institution doesn't either, there is no chance I would omit required academic records.

IIRC, they have an affiliation agreement, so are mutually recognized. After Article 50 is invoked, I wonder if Brexit will impact this?

I just want to qualify this. I see so many posts encouraging people to email every school on their list. Even if only half of applicants took this advice, think about it logistically. Administrative teams are often fielding these emails for their department heads. Admins are some of the most overworked and functionally important folks on a college campus. They are actively managing so many things for so many already admitted and enrolled students. Getting 200-300 emails from potential students has to be an exercise in frustration, and yield a situation where many emails are unanswerable. If you have specific questions that are not addressed in any of the available materials (as was the case in mcamp's post above) and that are relevant at that moment in time, *by all means*, get in touch. But if you are sending an email with a bio trying to get on the radar, asking about things that are not yet relevant (e.g. Vague questions about program quality when you've already decided to apply regardless of what answer comes back), I wouldn't be off put by a curt answer or even radio silence. Apply anyway, if you are interested in attending. Read what's available, independently assess yourself to determine if it would be a good fit for you, and let that be your guide, rather than one email response. I know many will disagree with this, just a thought.

I think 5 is a bit much. Unless you are established in a relevant career or volunteering through multiple organizations, it would be a stretch for anyone. IMO, one concrete example should suffice. Professors are busy, adcoms are even busier, and emailing a wall of text can have an inhibitory effect. Be respectful of their time, cut the buzz-word jargon as much as possible, use bullets or numbering, and hone in on the three or four traits your experiences most clearly illustrate.

Why is your cum GPA now? Without that info and knowing your GRE scores, it's not possible to really give any input. Regardless, a huge amount of geographic flexibility and finding programs that look at the last 60 credits only sounds like your best bet.

If I were you, I would use this as an opportunity to be specific. It will make the letter sound more boiler plate. List some experiences that have given you those transferable skills and competencies. Have you tutored? Worked in CLD settings? When, specifically, did you hone those communication skills? I would list those specifics so as to avoid the resulting competencies seeming vague.

I begin Western Kentucky University's full-time distance program in the fall! I got into another online program that was more self-paced (UNCO) but I had been doing asynchronous prerequisites at USU and, while I enjoyed them, I was really wanting to get back to live lectures and interacting with my professors and classmates. However, I have a large amount of temporal flexibility, and I know that isn't always the case for many people deciding between asynchronous and synchronous!

I had a very narrow geographic range. I applied to five, was accepted to four. Out of those four, three were online programs. I think geographic flexibility can be a big asset when applying, but I am lucky that the lack thereof was not a roadblock in my case. The school I chose to attend didn't use CSDCAS. The notion that I could have skipped CSDCAS in hindsight has been a little maddening, as I was not a fan.

Just a note on this: Some online programs are asynchronous, but the school I chose for the fall has synchronous content delivery, meaning there are digital class meeting times like a more traditional brick and mortar program. For my program anyway, these are evening meeting times, which works wonderfully for me but may not be ideal if you worked in the hospitality industry or another sector where evening shifts were needed. This may get more problematic if you account for differences in time zones.

Can I ask what the second online program in TN is? You said there are two, but which other one is there aside from TN State?

I had a previous MA in a related field. I have been a secondary English teacher for three years. I never got any negative feedback about being capricious. Everyone I spoke with about my application said my academic background and career experience was a plus. If you've got the scores and the capital, I say apply. Worst they can say is "no," in which case you can always look into employment to give your app a "real world" edge.

I applied as an out of fielder with a different MA. On CSDCAS both GPAs will combine to create your overall GPA. This is what they will look at. If a school doesn't use CSDCAS, they will evaluate all of your transcripts unless they have a policy to only look at a certain number of hours-like the last 60.

If I am understanding your question correctly, there isn't one. Post-bacc just means after your first Bachelor's has been earned. You can take post-bacc classes as non degree seeking or while getting a 2nd bachelor's. The math wouldn't change though. More hours/quality points will raise the GPA, no matter the designation.

I think course replacements can be really helpful as long as the schools you are applying to with your elevated GPA don't use CSDCAS. CSDCAS does not factor any grade replacement or grade forgiveness policies into your GPA calculation. I would not repeat classes if there weren't a significant number of programs I was wanting to apply to that did not utilize CSDCAS. I am a non-degree seeking student at USU. I will also take some classes from WKU this summer as I look toward starting grad school there this fall. I haven't done any grade replacements but have enjoyed my online coursework.

I could not relocate and applied to mostly online schools. There are several programs, some of which do not utilize CSDCAS. Be sure to look into those!

From the FAQ: CSDCAS does not recognize individual school’s forgiveness, academic renewal, or grade replacement policies in regards to repeated courses. All grades which you earned for repeated courses will factor into your CSDCAS GPA.