BEST course of action?

[dblhelx]

OK....

1) Applied to TESC and admitted.
2) Went to my previous community college and had transcripts sent to TESC.
3) Went online to TESC's website and logged in with code they gave me, no transcripts listed online yet, haven't received an unofficial evaluation in the mail yet.

What is the best course of action to take next? I want to get their BA in Biology. I'd like to test out using CLEP and accumulate as many FEMA credits as possible.

Should I wait until I get my unofficial transcript review first before taking any CLEP exams to avoid taking tests I don't need? I have roughly 55-60 undergraduate credits from my community college ranging from Bio 101, Chem 101, humanities, algebra, sociology, psych 101, Political Science 101/102, 4 semesters of Spanish, etc etc.

I heard that TESC doesn't give you too much time of day regarding advice/counseling until you are "enrolled," but I don't want to pay that whopping enrollment fee until I have tested out of as many credits as possible so that when I DO finallly enroll, I can make the graduation process swift and quick and minimize paying TESC as much as I can.

Thank you SOOOOO kindly!!!!!!!!!

Which FEMA tests should I take? or wgen it comes to FEMA just take everything I can until I reach the maximum 25 FEMA credits that TESC accepts?

[thatbrian]

Go to Excelsior and avoid the poor treatment that you WILL get at TESC.

[lwmcc]

Since it's going to take TESC about 6 weeks to do your unofficial eval, I'd suggest planning out the way you want to fulfill your GenEds and Free electives and start testing in advance of them completing the eval. You can have the test scores sent directly to TESC when you take the tests, even before you enroll, since you've already applied. First, go to this link:

http://www.tesc.edu/files/College_Catalog_0809web.pdf

and print out pages 107-109; these are the TECEP/CLEP/DSST tests that TESC accepts allong with their course equivalent numbers and the sepcific categories in which TESC applies them. Then bookmark/print pages 49 (BA requirements) and 53 (Biology major requirements). These will give you the base info to work from for a 'design it yourself degree'.

I'd suggest not taking any tests specificially for your major area of study (Biology) yet - best to get the true eval and talk with an advisor for those. But, for any BA at TESC, you're going to need these specific Gen Eds:

English Comp: 6 (if you don't already have this, CLEP EngComp w/Essay)
Humanities: 12 (at least 2 subjects)
Social Sciences: 12 (at least 2 subjects)
Natural Science & Math: 3 Math, 6 Science (at least 2 subjects)
Gen Ed Electives: 18 (any of the above subject areas, mix and match as wished)

Then you'll need the 33 specific credits of your major (best to consult on this)

And finally, the 27 Free Electives (this is where all of the 'oddball' courses, including FEMAs, that don't fall under Gen Eds will plug in).

With the info from the catalog on the pages above, you can pretty easily determine where your transfer courses will be applied, and therefore how many GenEds & Free Electives you'll still need to fulfill. In this way, you can pretty safely work away at the requirements while TESC is s-l-o-w-l-y doing the review. Cheers!
- Lia

[dblhelx]

When I go to the FEMA site....which FEMA exams should I take? Just take all of them or take 25 credits worth? ANY Fema as long as the total is the 25 maximum allowed by TESC for transfer? (TESC only allows 25 credits from FEMA now)

[lwmcc]

If you do a search on 'FEMA' on this forum, you'll find a thread that lists the FEMA courses TESC accepts. Not all FEMAs are accepted by TESC, but a safe bet for starters is the 'Professional Development Series' courses (I think there's 7 or 9 of them) on the FEMA site, and the Animals in Disaster A&B. Most of the ones that are listed on the FEMA site as being worth 1 college credit (not CEU) are the ones accepted by TESC, but it's worth doing a quick search on the forum to be sure of the course numbers.
- Lia

[Blitzstudie]

I know you are asking about TESC but even if it costs you the application fee, you might want to check out Excelsior..you can take the Biology GRE in April for 130 bucks and if you get 80th %tile,you get 30 credits, under that you get 3 credits knocked off per 4.5% drop. For example I did the Psy test in Oct and Nov..first was a 71%=24 credits, second was 75%tile=27 credits. Kaplan and Princetons have study guides. Just wanted to throw it out...this link will show you all TESC degrees and what credits you need,you can match up with what you have.

Thomas Edison State College | What You Can Study

[workingmom]

I haven't dealt with TESC but I think this procedure is the same for Excelsior, you have to pay a fee to receive an unofficial eval, then you have to pay the high enrollment fee for any help.

[bat21]

EC was pretty good, and would help you out after submitting your un-official eval with them.

TESC is something else, I just paid my 1450.00 and I am still waiting for them to update my evaluation.

But, now with their silly policy of not awarding a GPA, unless you take their classes,it kind of makes it useless to go through them.

At least I received, my degree from EC with a GPA and was able to apply to Liberty U.

[brothermike]

LWMCC I will send you a pm also but by this statement:

Natural Science & Math: 3 Math, 6 Science (at least 2 subjects)

Do you mean that TESC will want me to take a natural science other than biology? Here is what I have:

stat 4 credits
Algebra Clep
Biology 101 4 credits
Biology 102 4 credits

Break it to me softly=)

[thatbrian]

Keep in mind that you won't have a GPA from TESC unless you take classes from them. They do not give a GPA for CLEP, DSST or credits that you transfer in. EC doe give GPA for DSST & transfer credit.