Penn Foster Oleson Village

[cosme017]

Thank you for your time. I have emailed them twice already on some discrepancies with their tests. Long story short, they "regraded" two of my tests and I was awarded a better grade. I was going to email them about the buffer issue, the one coordinate that is off, and their lack of help with the projects. I got more information and help from you than my own school. Thanks again, I will be pm'ing you shortly with a request, since I am finishing the project very soon.

[ReMark]

I sent a second email before I left work as I hadn't heard back from them on the first. I doubt whether any instructor will respond to me as I am not a student. If there is no response when I return to work on Tuesday morning I am going to see if I can find someone higher up the chain of command who might be willing to listen to some of the concerns I and others have raised here about the Penn-Foster curriculum.

[cosme017]

cool, let me know if you need a direct email or contact. I can look it up.

[cosme017]

Before you hit the hay, I was wondering if I am changing the linetype in text or the 0 layer to create those dashed lines for the total measurements. (arcs too)

[ReMark]

cool, let me know if you need a direct email or contact. I can look it up.

 

As I suspected I received no responses to either email.

[ReMark]

I would recommend against changing the linetype of your Text layer to dashed. If there are no other objects on layer 0 I supposed you could use it for your dashed lines.

[ReMark]

 

I have described this in words but I thought a drawing might be better.

 

The vehicles shown are six feet wide. The one on the far left is about 6" off the curb.

 

Penn-Foster refers to the grassy area between the walk and curb as a "parking" strip while most cities refer to it as a planting strip. Many times one will see small trees in this area and a male dog's best friend...a fire hydrant.

 

Why the one foot buffer? Most cities do not like the back of the sidewalk to sit on the property line as contractors would invariably knock out the iron pins that designate the property corners. Not a good thing when it comes time to have a survey done.

 

Re: instructor's sketch as shown in post #159. He has shown the sidewalk and buffer inside the property line which in my opinion is wrong. He also shows about two feet of the parking strip and the curb (most are 6" in width) within the R.O.W. That means the paved roadway would be more like 45 feet wide as opposed to 30 feet. That's not a road that's a highway.

Edited July 10, 2012 by ReMark

[Dadgad]

As I suspected I received no responses to either email.

 

Do you suppose that they were able to surmise that you were not really interested in giving them money?

I wonder how much they would want YOU to pay THEM to fix all their course materials?

Perhaps you could make it worth their while. I have a sudden desire to

google PENN FOSTER AUTOCAD and see how many of the posts describing how outdated and inaccurate

their course materials are rise to the top of the list.

[ReMark]

I did Google Penn-Foster and the word "complaint" and was not surprised by many of the responses.

 

I think P-F should update its AutoCAD course and in the process review the instructional material. I'd be happy to lend them a hand...at a cost. That would be one lucky student each year gets a free ride. I think it should be any soldier who served overseas in Iraq or Afghanistan. A small price for P-F to pay don't you think?

[cosme017]

As I suspected I received no responses to either email.

 

Well, i know it takes like 4 days just to get a response. I know it's a joke, especially when your a student trying to get help. I will pm or email you an instructor's response from an email and that might help.

[ReMark]

Four days? No wonder why they recommend coming here for assistance. Maybe our forum members respond too quickly. We'll have to start a campaign to get them to slack off a bit. We don't want to spoil people right?

[Dadgad]

I did Google Penn-Foster and the word "complaint" and was not surprised by many of the responses.

 

I think P-F should update its AutoCAD course and in the process review the instructional material. I'd be happy to lend them a hand...at a cost. That would be one lucky student each year gets a free ride. I think it should be any soldier who served overseas in Iraq or Afghanistan. A small price for P-F to pay don't you think?

 

That is inspired ReMark and a fantastic idea. Of course, given that they are so HIGHLY regarded in the world of autocad instruction, and have numerous talented staff who are eager to do the best they can .....blah, blah, blah ..I am sure that you will enjoy this attachment.

I guess now that we understand the average turn around time on a question is about 4 days, that would explain why on their online information they describe time to complete the course as unknown.

Do you suppose the turn around time is due to a serious backlog of questions from people trying to complete their course, with substandard materials? Might it have something to do with the materials? Nah!

 

For those new to the forum, please do not misconstrue the information displayed in the image as an endorsement from me, it is definitely not.

Edited July 11, 2012 by Dadgad

[Dadgad]

So it seems it really is WHO you know, not WHAT you know that counts. I used to think pretty highly of the BBB.

[cosme017]

Wow, the instructors suck. I just called and I was asking the instructor about the trim layer for plotting and the dashed lines to enclose the total footage, and I get "thats sounds right", "try" that, "not sure why it's not working," " the other instructor is taking emails", "he won't be in the office until thursday"..... My lid is about to pop off! The plotting part asks for the trim layer, but i never made a trim layer. Do they mean freehand a box 24x36. So close to finishing. I want this over so i can get back to my life. Lol

[ReMark]

I don't recall reading anything about a Trim layer but then again I was going to be plotting the drawing or sending it off to be graded. I'll have to look at the instructions when I get home this afternoon.

[ReMark]

Regarding the questions you put to me.

 

1. Dashed lines. These can resized by changing the linetype scale in your Properties palette. You can change one then use the Match Properties command to change the remainder. You'll find the button for this on your Home tab, Clipboard panel (far right).

 

2. Yellow border? I'll have to get back to you on this one. The only yellow I'm aware of is used for the layer border which would have to surround the entire map that you drew.

 

3. Tree diameter change. The process for this is outlined on page 15. What you are basically doing is redefining the tree block. So you would Explode one tree change the diameter then turn it back into a block using the exact same name. AutoCAD will protest that there is already a block with this name and ask if you really want to do this. The answer is "yes".

 

4. Block of plat map. I think I know what is being asked but I'll have to verify it first. Wait. I'll be back. Sorry, but you got me stumped on this one. I thought perhaps a "vicinity" or "locus" map was required. I think I'll have to consult the instructions. I'm back. The only thing I see in regards to a block is what P-F calls a Border block. The instructions for this block are on pages 16 and 17.

 

Have you drawn a scale bar, north arrow and created a legend yet?

Edited July 10, 2012 by ReMark

[ReMark]

Wow, the instructors suck. I just called and I was asking the instructor about the trim layer for plotting and the dashed lines to enclose the total footage, and I get "thats sounds right", "try" that, "not sure why it's not working," " the other instructor is taking emails", "he won't be in the office until thursday"..... My lid is about to pop off! The plotting part asks for the trim layer, but i never made a trim layer. Do they mean freehand a box 24x36. So close to finishing. I want this over so i can get back to my life. Lol

 

The Trim line would represent your paper size. It would be a rectangle drawn on layer TRIM, color red, and it would be drawn with the DASHED linetype.

[ReMark]

 

The red dashed line is drawn on layer TRIM.

The yellow lines in this drawing are the Border.

Notice the North arrow, Scale bar (lower left hand corner) and the Legend (lower right hand corner. All these elements are called for in the instructions. Your North arrow can be of any design you wish.

 

I'm not going to be on here much longer as I have some things to catch up on tonight. I will check this thread on Wednesday morning. That's the best I can offer. Good night and good luck finishing up your drawing.

[cosme017]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]35872[/ATTACH]

 

The red dashed line is drawn on layer TRIM.

The yellow lines in this drawing are the Border.

Notice the North arrow, Scale bar (lower left hand corner) and the Legend (lower right hand corner. All these elements are called for in the instructions. Your North arrow can be of any design you wish.

 

 

 

I'm not going to be on here much longer as I have some things to catch up on tonight. I will check this thread on Wednesday morning. That's the best I can offer. Good night and good luck finishing up your drawing.

 

There isn't a TRIM layer. Check page 3.

[ReMark]

 

What was that? I couldn't hear you?