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Teknix
08-05-2014, 02:33 PM
Hello Beyond,

I am hoping to upgrade my high school marks over the next year for English 30 & Math 30 so I can apply for SAIT courses which would start next fall.

I am wanting to do online or at home courses as I work full-time on a rotated schedule. As early as 7:00AM start and as late as 11:00PM end.

Whats best institution to look at as far as cost, efficiency, location...ect.

thanks!

roll_over
08-05-2014, 02:39 PM
I just did this recently and I think chinook learning center was the cheapest, if you're not going what diffrence does location make?

Edit just found the notes I made about locations and costs. Bow valley, chinook collage, alberta distance learning and sait all offer upgrading. They have prices online or you can call them

JaffX
08-05-2014, 03:21 PM
I did the Chinook Learning Center courses during High School to also upgrade my marks for math 30 and english 30.

For math, you will be given notes and readings, then the teacher will give you assignments and they are due every week or 2 weeks or something like that. For the midterms, you'll have to go to the Chinook Learning Center and write them in person. You will be given a few specific dates and times to choose (including weekends). For the final exam you will be assigned a school to go to, and you must be there in person to write it.

For english, you'll have to find and buy all the books and literature yourself. Every month or so you'll be asked to write an essay on the literature you have read, then you submit it online to your teacher. Unfortunately for the life of me, I cannot remember about the midterms and stuff. For the final exam, just like for the math exam, you have to go in person to write your exam.



Note 1: It is optional if you want to write the final diploma exam. If you think your marks on your first try are decent, then you don't have to write it. If not, then you'll also have to pay additional money to write the exams.

Note 2: It's been like 7 years since I've done this, so things could have changed.

I hope this helps you.

Chemengsait
08-05-2014, 03:46 PM
What program do you want to take at sait? If you can I would just upgrade at sait that way they have all your transcripts. I knew a girl in my class that upgraded at sait and said it was super easy compared to high school.

bignerd
08-05-2014, 05:01 PM
The cheapest I found was actually Bow Valley College. If you upgraded two courses you could do a third for free as long as it was completed in the same time frame. This was a few years ago.

Just my opinion but I don't find correspondence upgrading all that effective. Unless you were some whiz kid in high school who wasn't challenged and that is why you failed, learning 30 level Chem, Math and Physics on your own is difficult(and I am speaking from personal experience). There is a reason I had to upgrade, because I didn't understand it the first time around.

As well I have heard if you do upgrading at SAIT for example you can only use those marks to apply to SAIT. U of C or U of whatever may not accept them where as Chinook Learning Services is Alberta Govt Education so would be accepted anywhere. Says you want to go to SAIT anyhow so probably doesn't matter.

roll_over
08-05-2014, 05:19 PM
I'll add this I was told that if you have been out of school for a few years you can just take the diploma and that will be your final mark or you can combine your course mark with your diploma, so you could just pay the $35 per exam this could save you some time.

D. Dub
08-05-2014, 05:22 PM
Athabasca, Chinook College, CBE, and talk to a SAIT counsellor?

leftwing
08-05-2014, 07:15 PM
Just to add for general sake;

The 'upgrading' courses at SAIT are considered equivalents by SAIT and not actual replacements. Therefore if you take English 30 at SAIT, SAIT will recognize it as a replacement for English 30 in Alberta, but if you apply somewhere else (ex. out of province or another institution in AB) they may not accept SAIT's English 30 mark.

Sugarphreak
08-05-2014, 08:11 PM
...

Chemengsait
08-06-2014, 07:52 AM
Originally posted by leftwing
Just to add for general sake;

The 'upgrading' courses at SAIT are considered equivalents by SAIT and not actual replacements. Therefore if you take English 30 at SAIT, SAIT will recognize it as a replacement for English 30 in Alberta, but if you apply somewhere else (ex. out of province or another institution in AB) they may not accept SAIT's English 30 mark.

Just found this on the academic upgrading page on sait

"SAIT upgrading courses (with the exception of our preparatory-level courses) are accepted for admission to other post-secondary institutions in Alberta."

http://www.sait.ca/Documents/About%20SAIT/Schools/Centre%20for%20Academic%20Learner%20Servies/CALS-Academic%20Upgrading%20Program%20Sheet.pdf

so if the OP wanted to go to UofC, MRU or UofA instead they could, not sure about out of province though lol

leftwing
08-06-2014, 04:58 PM
Originally posted by Chemengsait


Just found this on the academic upgrading page on sait

"SAIT upgrading courses (with the exception of our preparatory-level courses) are accepted for admission to other post-secondary institutions in Alberta."

http://www.sait.ca/Documents/About%20SAIT/Schools/Centre%20for%20Academic%20Learner%20Servies/CALS-Academic%20Upgrading%20Program%20Sheet.pdf

so if the OP wanted to go to UofC, MRU or UofA instead they could, not sure about out of province though lol


You are correct, thanks for that! I was going off memory and I got it a bit wrong. My bad.

They are recognized at AB post secondary institutions, but they are not Alberta Education classes, so they do not work towards a high school diploma or GED, and may not be recognized out of province.

rx7_turbo2
08-11-2014, 10:22 PM
I recently completed a couple courses through Bow Valley.

No complaints. I relied heavily on the textbooks, google, and YouTube. I actually found YouTube Chanel's by Alberta teachers that record all their lessons and put them up. It was great, almost as good as physically being in the class. Maybe even better because I could pause and rewind. I found the instructors useful as well, they responded quickly and with useful tips and instruction.

Tips? Even though it's high school courses don't take it lightly. The classes might not be all that difficult but it's easy for life to get in the way. I set a schedule for myself, closed the door to my office, turned my phone off and told the wife to leave me alone. My guess is these classes are major money makers, I'm willing to bet a lot of people don't complete them and end up re-registering.