"The correct means of doing this is to use the -T (--no-target-directory) option, and recursively copy the folders (without trailing slashes, asterisks, etc.), i.e.:
cp -rT /etc/skel /home/user
This will copy the contents of /etc/skel to /home/user (including hidden files), creating the folder /home/user if it does not exist; however the -T option prevents the contents of /etc/skel from being copied to a new folder /home/user/skel should the folder /home/user exist."
You may want to add the -P option to your command.
--partial # By default, rsync will delete any partially transferred file if the transfer is interrupted. In some circumstances it is more desirable to keep partially transferred files. Using the --partial option tells rsync to keep the partial file which should make a subsequent transfer of the rest of the file much faster.
-P # The -P option is equivalent to --partial --progress. Its purpose is to make it much easier to specify these two options for a long transfer that may be interrupted.
"The simplest way is: cp -r /etc/skel/{.,}* /home/user
The expression {.,}* includes all files and directories (also starting with a dot). If you don't want use above expression, then you can use the cp property, which is the ability to specify multiple sources for one target folder: cp -r /etc/skel/* /home/user"