ACSC OLMP?

[Champ Kind]

I'm an O-3, no masters, SOS in correspondence complete... I'm right around the 6 year point.

Are they looking for those who've completed SOS in residence or does correspondence count?

I'd say you are the ideal participant for that program. I can't imagine they wouldn't let you enroll if you are SOS-complete (whether it's corresp. or in-res).

[ThreeHoler]

What Champ says. You just have to be SOS complete and a Capt with 6+ years in.

[Rusty Pipes]

Just be careful of one thing if you are trying to use this for box checking for promotion (pretty much O-4's or O-4 selects). Remember that for any kind of a board/rack and stack these days, they are not only looking for if you have an AAD and PME complete, but also when you completed it. My last 2 bosses talked guys who had just pinned on O-4 into dropping their BAC+ masters and normal ACSC in cor for the OLMP, but then it was held against them when it came to rack and stack, school, PRF, etc because on paper it basically said "no AAD and no ACSC". Both could have double tapped classes and ACSC and been done in 6 months, but ended up not getting completion credit for either until almost 2 yrs later which definitely hurt them.

It sounds like a great deal, but the definite catch is that your completion date for both AAD and ACSC are being used as a discriminator now. If you are starting with no masters work at all it is probably a really good deal, but if you can knock out the rest of a Masters and do the ACSC test a week plan to check the boxes a lot quicker that is probably your best bet. Pretty sad that we even have to discuss this as an issue...

[guineapigfury]

I really like the 6+ years TIS requirement, no previous masters, and the 2 year completion time. I think it weeds out a lot of the careerists and box checkers who want to look as good as possible because of the fact that you might not even complete it before your PRF goes to the board. And these days it's pretty hard to wait 6 years before telling the boss that you're finally starting your masters.

Seriously, wanting to make major makes someone a "careerist"? I think the master's degree is a stupid requirement, but they've been telling us for years to do it or you won't get promoted. Isn't the only reason you would do this program to advance your prospects for promotion? No one actually expects to learn anything about leadership or whatever thru these courses do they?

[Guest YJ619]

For those of you who are going through or have gone through the OLMP: It's the end of week 1 and I didn't get to post anything for DQ 1. I was on a good reading pace earlier in the week but work and family eventually sucked all the free time I had. Should I just go ahead and drop the course? Or can I still recover?

Some of the readings are very similar (if not the same) to SOS readings and it just makes me want to throw up...

Thanks.

YJ

[ThreeHoler]

Pro tip: Skip the readings, go straight to the DQ, and use the fucking search function of Acrobat or Google to find quotes/paraphrases to support your post.

Free advice: talk to your instructor, take the 5 point late hit, and pot anyway.

[Catbox]

For those of you who are going through or have gone through the OLMP: It's the end of week 1 and I didn't get to post anything for DQ 1. I was on a good reading pace earlier in the week but work and family eventually sucked all the free time I had. Should I just go ahead and drop the course? Or can I still recover?

Some of the readings are very similar (if not the same) to SOS readings and it just makes me want to throw up...

Thanks.

YJ

Don't drop the course...there is no need to. Just do exactly what ThreeHoler said and you'll be fine. The DQs are a pain in the ass at first but by your third or fourth course (maybe sooner) you'll get into a rhythm where you can basically answer the DQs with no reading or research whatsoever. It’s all about key words and phrases and then being able to back them up, or back off your point intelligently if someone has a better argument.

.

[daynightindicator]

Don't drop the course...there is no need to. Just do exactly what ThreeHoler said and you'll be fine. The DQs are a pain in the ass at first but by your third or fourth course (maybe sooner) you'll get into a rhythm where you can basically answer the DQs with no reading or research whatsoever. It’s all about key words and phrases and then being able to back them up, or back off your point intelligently if someone has a better argument.

.

2

I've turned in assignments up to a month late with weak reasoning ("I got thrown on an extra couple of sorties, etc) and rarely was even penalized. If you're deployed they bend over backwards to accomodate you.

You'll get to the point where the DQ's can be handled in ~30 min to an hour (depending on how strict the prof is with sourcing) and the essays can be written in 2-3 hours. I've continually reduced the amount of effort I've put in to each class and continue to get low 90s grades. Unless you care about the "with honors" distinction you can min-run this program, thanks in part to the general idiocy and low bars set by a lot of the civilians in the program.

Don't forget most of the profs have "real" jobs and do this on the side.

[Guest YJ619]

All,

Thanks for the advice. It's only week 2 and I'm hating life already. I'll stick with the plan and try to grind it out.

YJ

[ThreeHoler]

All,

Thanks for the advice. It's only week 2 and I'm hating life already. I'll stick with the plan and try to grind it out.

YJ

Drink a beer or three before posting. Your grades will go up. At least mine do...

[JVBFLY]

Just completed the course, and yes it does take time. But for the most part, the weekly responses and course load are not that difficult. The most difficult was the final research paper, which took a lot of time to complete. If you are a decent writer, then you shouldn't have a problem. Two and a half years though to get through it all, so make sure you put your mind to it.

Most of all my courses averaged about two operators per class. There are quite a few civilians.

I also never had a problem getting extensions on the coursework. In fact, there was one person in my final class (research paper) that disappeared for 4 weeks and then posted everything in the final week. He still graduated. As long as you coordinate to be late, most of the instructors are very fair.

Good luck.

[herkbum]

Drink a beer or three before posting. Your grades will go up. At least mine do...

2

Everytime I wrote a paper or responded to a DQ under the influence, my scores went up. It got to be habit to write whatever had to be written after a "social event". This made the entire program so much smoother and I thank God that it is over. What sucks now is that I have started AWC.

[Herk Mafia]

I have finished all of the classes for the leadership concentration except the thesis. I was wondering about the thesis class (RE2) and how it is run. Are you expected to basically have the paper written prior to the class or is there time to knock it out in the 8 week time frame of the class?

[backseatdriver]

You do it during the class - turn in 5 pages each week.

[Herk Mafia]

You do it during the class - turn in 5 pages each week.

Did they seem to actually care about the content or were they mostly checking on formatting and page count (like the rest of the classes). Thanks for the reply.

[AlphaMikeFoxtrot]

Did they seem to actually care about the content or were they mostly checking on formatting and page count (like the rest of the classes). Thanks for the reply.

I'm in RE 2 right now. Content and formatting matter, the weekly page quota is the least important as long as you show progression. If you give 2 good reviews to your peers every week and move forward on your paper you will do fine. The total page count is 25 +-5 (20 is my goal). I've gotten between a 90 and 94 through week 5 and have yet to write 5 pages a week. It may be hit or miss depending in the instructors expectations, but as long as you have a researchable topic and can make a few good points per week to your peers you'll be fine.

[Catbox]

Did they seem to actually care about the content or were they mostly checking on formatting and page count (like the rest of the classes). Thanks for the reply.

I finished mine a couple of years ago, and yes they do care about the content as you are writing. But more so to make sure that you have an early opportunity to make corrections if need be. There was a MX officer in my course who was obviously "phoning it in" during each weeks assignment with the expectation that she would go on an all out writing binge at the end of course. Absolute no go with the instructor, in fact in all my online ACSC she was the only person who got openly berated by the instructor and other classmates during the discussions.

[BossHogg]

I only skimmed some of the peeing contests above, so I am not weighing in on those.

1. I completed the course in about a year and three months. It was free. It checked the squares for a masters degree and all the ACSC testing. I never had to buy a book.

2. I agree with the above about the classes making you want to OD on dip and booze to keep you from wanting to kill the shoe clerks, GS types, and other clowns checking the square.

3. The reading is a joke. Each lesson would have you read an encyclopedia before posting but it is not necessary. I would use someone elses well thought out post and references and then make some counter claim and it saved me countless hours reading.

4. Average week would take me about two to three hours per class. ( I doubled up at times STS) The mid-terms and final exams are a pain but get good at MS word and they are manageable. During those weeks it would take about 8 hours per class.

5. The research classes are a total pain in the ass. I had to double up on classes during one of the research classes and I think I was buying Bud Light in bulk from the commissary. The research class alone took me about 10 hours per week as there is much more to these than just posting responses once per week.

6. I graduated with a 3.7 and min effort at times just due to regular work, I was also a Flt CC at the time, etc... It made for a shitty summer last year as I was trying to knock out several classes at once in order to check the square in time for my last look at ACSC in residence.

7. Is the degree worthless on the outside? Probably... Is it free and outside of TORO or some other online basket weaving degree, it is relatively painless, save the research stuff. Get past that stuff and I would do it again.

[Catbox]

7. Is the degree worthless on the outside? Probably... Is it free and outside of TORO or some other online basket weaving degree, it is relatively painless, save the research stuff. Get past that stuff and I would do it again.

When I was pledging Reserve units the Masters program was a decent “leg up” vs the traditional correspondence program. May have just been the units I was talking to and obviously the Reserves isn't necessarily the "outside" but after getting the debrief from the guys who made the selections I was sure glad I went through the ass pain of DQs and term papers.

Edited April 6, 2012 by Catbox

[drewpey]

Quick question about the whole ACSC thing...

So one day when I'm told to get ACSC done in correspondence or whatever, it will be this entire distance learning masters program, or is there another correspondence course of just tests and reading? The AU site doesn't seem to mention any correspondence program that's not the masters program.

Also I was told the WIC counts some towards ACSC in correspondence, but from reading the OLMP it seems like the WIC doesn't actually help towards ACSC, but just another masters program.

I'm about to finish my diploma-mill degree and thought I would just be able to sign up for ACSC tests similar to SOS in correspondence when the time came...but the more I read into it the more concerned I am that I'm going to have to complete yet another masters degree program. If that's the case then I should probably do as others have mentioned and sign up before I send my diploma to AFIT and get it done when I've got time. Looking for some info...don't know much about this sorta stuff.

[Buenos Diaz]

drewpey,

You don't need to get another masters. ACSC 6.0 is online and is the course that you are looking for. Link below.

https://www.au.af.mil/au/acsc/distance-learning.asp#Benefits

Later,

Buenos

[Shaft34]

There are two ACSC programs: Distance Learning and the OLMP (On-Line Masters Program)

The one you want is the Distance Learning (correspondence course) - https://acsc.maxwell.af.mil/distance-learning.asp

From what I've read, they have revamped the Distance Learning program to include the use of the Blackboard system (used by the OLMP), which adds some more interactive course work compared to the old style correspondence testing system. I did the OLMP and my only experience with correspondence was the old scanned paper SOS tests, where you had to send in each answer sheet and wait a few weeks to find out if you passed. Sounds a lot more convenient than that, but hopefully someone currently enrolled can fill in the gaps for you.

Copy and Past from link above:

The core content of the new ACSC DL program does not deviate extensively from the current program and continues to offer the same seven core courses as the current 5.2 program. However, the new program offers a completely different learning experience in that students are able to more actively engage with the material. In addition to lesson narratives, reading materials and lesson progress checks, students will encounter videos, computer-based interactive learning activities and “game-like” exercises all available in an online environment. Self-paced is enhanced by collaborative, online facilitated courses that enable students to engage in course concepts via faculty-guided, peer-to-peer interactions. And great news as all assessments are online…no need to travel to the test centers anymore!

Edited March 14, 2013 by Shaft34

[drewpey]

I saw that but this line is what concerns me:

The curriculum consists of eight self-paced courses and four applied courses to be completed in the following order: Orientation and Introduction (ORIN), Leadership and Command (LC), Applied Leadership and Command (ALC), National Security (NS), Applied National Security (ANS), Warfare Studies (WS), Airpower Studies (AP), Applied Warfare (AW), Joint Forces (JF), Joint Planning (JP), Joint Air Operations (JA), and Applied Joint Warfare (AJW).

12 courses? Sounds a lot like an online masters program to me. I'd be interested in anyone's experience with the 6.0 program to find the path of least resistance.

[Champ Kind]

"2".

How fast can one bang this thing out and get it over with? Looking to start soon.

[C-21.Pilot]

You can get the normal courses done EASILY in a day. however, you then have to wait for the applied courses -- which then are set to be btw 2-3 weeks.

I started with NS in mid Oct and with NO delays, was able to finish late Jan 13.