Advice Needed Re: Completing BA in English via TESC

[birdandbee]

Hi All,

I apologize in advance if the following replicates any of the thread previously posted in the forum (I've done a board search and have yet to find any threads that completely address my questions, hence this post).

I'm a current TESC student (having transferred 30 credits from Rutgers U) working toward a BA in English with the eventual goal of becoming a teacher. I'm trying to complete my BA as quickly as possible (like most of you, I'm sure) so I can apply for enrollment in the Alternate Route to Teaching program here in NJ. I recently lost my job and as such, now have extra time on my hands and am eager to take advantage of that while I can. I'm trying to look into whatever shortcuts are available to me both to obtain my degree as quickly and inexpensively as possible. One of the hurdles I'm faced with is meeting TESC's 30 upper level credit requirement for the English degree. I'm currently enrolled in two upper level courses (African Encounters and One Writer's Vision: Jane Austen) which obviously leaves me with another 24 to go.

My questions are: can any of these upper level requirements be met by way of CLEP exams? If so, which? Also, I've read some mentions of credit-by-examination via other online programs (e.g. Ohio State, BYU - Brigham Young?). I'm just wondering what, if any, exams can be taken at these other institutions to fulfill TESC's upper level requirement and how the transfer of these credits to TESC works.

I have an appointment with an adviser next week and plan to address my questions to her as well, but I'd like to be armed with as much knowledge beforehand as possible. Also, in my experience, I've found that many of the TESC advisers are far from helpful and in fact, this forum is often more so helpful.

Thanks in advance, everyone!

Also, if it helps in answering my questions, here's my current schedule for this semester:

- African Encounters (LIT-331)
- One Writer's Vision: Jane Austen (LIT-393)
- Sociology of Work (SOC-362)

And here's my academic evaluation as of today:

BA General Education (60 SH)
Semester Hours Completed: 36.00

Complete all 6 subrequirements:

A: English Composition - credit via high school AP examination.


B: Humanities (In Progress)
> Complete 12 semester hours of Humanities, including at
> least two subject areas.
Semester Hours Completed: 9.00 Required: 12 Remaining: 3
Src Course # Title S.H. Grd TESC # Notes
2.. FIL-110... American Cinema.......... 3.00 A
1.. 353350 Psychoanalytic Lt Th..... 3.00 D LIT-399 *TE
2.. LIT-221... Intro to Children's Liter (3.00) ___ *IP


C: Social Sciences (Completed)
> Complete 12 semester hours in the Social Sciences,
> including at least two subject areas.
Semester Hours Completed: 12.00
Src Course # Title S.H. Grd TESC # Notes
1.. 988212 Women Eur & U S 1800+.... 3.00 A HIS-299 *TE
1.. 506209 Patterns in Civ Death.... 3.00 C+ HIS-299 *TE
2.. PSY-317... Worlds of Childhood...... 3.00 A
1.. 988253 Witchcraft and Magic..... 3.00 A ANT-321 *TE

D: Mathematics (Not Started) - PLANNING ON TAKING THE CLEP FOR THIS
> Complete a 3 semester hour college-level Mathematics
> course.
_____________________________________________________________________ 3 credits

E: Natural Sciences (Pending)
> Complete 9 semester hours in the Natural Sciences,
> including at least two subject areas.
Semester Hours Completed: 9.00
Src Course # Title S.H. Grd TESC # Notes
1.. 119152 Biomed Issues Aids....... 3.00 B BIO-199 *TE
2.. GER-312... Biological Aspects of Agi 3.00 A
2.. BIO-208... The Science of Nutrition. (3.00) B *IP

F: General Ed Electives (In Progress)
> Complete 18 semester hours from any of the following
> General Education subjects: Humanities, Social Sciences,
> Natural Sciences or Mathematics.
Semester Hours Completed: 6.00 Required: 18 Remaining: 12
Src Course # Title S.H. Grd TESC # Notes
1.. 988320 Women in Antiquity....... 3.00 D HIS-373 *TE
2.. PSY-350... Abnormal Psychology...... (3.00) A *IP
_____________________________________________________________________ 3 credits

Area of Study (18SH must be at the 300/400 level)
Semester Hours Completed: 12.00
GPA Achieved/Needed: 3.150 / 2.000
Complete all 4 subrequirements:
A: Survey of Literature (Not Started)
> Complete 6 credits of Survey of Literature.

_____________________________________________________________________ 3 credits
_____________________________________________________________________ 3 credits

B: Anal & Int Lit (Completed)
> Complete 3 credits of Analysis and Interpretation
> of Literature.
Src Course # Title S.H. Grd TESC # Notes
1.. 350220 Prncpls of Lit Study..... 3.00 B LIT-292 *TE

C: Non Western Lit (Not Started)
> Complete one Non-Western Literature course (non-British;
> non-American).
_____________________________________________________________________ 3 credits

D: English Electives (In Progress)
> Complete 21 semester hours of English/Literature/Advanced
> Writing courses as electives. At least 15SH must be at the
> 300/400 level to satisfy the requirement of 18SH of 300/400
> level coursework in the Area of Study. LIB-495 (Liberal
> Arts Capstone) can satisfy 3SH of this requirement.
Semester Hours Completed: 9.00
Group 1 (In Progress)
Src Course # Title S.H. Grd TESC # Notes
1.. 350389 Medieval Lit & Culture... 3.00 B+ ENG-300 *TE
_____________________________________________________________________ 3 credits
_____________________________________________________________________ 3 credits
_____________________________________________________________________ 3 credits
_____________________________________________________________________ 3 credits
Group 2 (Completed)
Semester Hours Completed: 6.00
Src Course # Title S.H. Grd TESC # Notes
1.. 350219 Prncpls of Lit Study..... 3.00 B LIT-291 *TE
1.. 195135 Intro Short Fiction...... 3.00 B+ LIT-199 *TE
================================================================================
BA Free Electives (27 SH)
> Complete 27 semester hours of Free Electives.
_____________________________________________________________________ 3 credits
_____________________________________________________________________ 3 credits
_____________________________________________________________________ 3 credits
_____________________________________________________________________ 3 credits
_____________________________________________________________________ 3 credits
_____________________________________________________________________ 3 credits
_____________________________________________________________________ 3 credits
_____________________________________________________________________ 3 credits
_____________________________________________________________________ 3 credits
Src Course # Title S.H. Grd TESC # Notes
================================================================================

[PonyGirl93]

I doubt you're going to get around that much with the English degree. Here's the relevant part of my evaluation:

Area of Study (18SH must be at the 300/400 level)
Semester Hours Completed: 21.00
GPA Achieved/Needed: 4.000 / 2.000

Complete all 4 subrequirements:
A: Survey of Literature (Completed)
> Complete 6 credits of Survey of Literature.
Semester Hours Completed: 6.00
Src Course # Title S.H. Grd TESC # Notes
1.. LIT-206... American Literature II... 3.00 CR LIT-206 *NE < What they equate the Am Lit CLEP with
1.. LIT-205... American Literature I.... 3.00 CR LIT-205 *NE

B: Anal & Int Lit (Completed)
> Complete 3 credits of Analysis and Interpretation
> of Literature.
Src Course # Title S.H. Grd TESC # Notes
1.. LIT-292... Analysis and Inter of Lit 3.00 CR LIT-292 *NE < What they equate the An & Interp Lit CLEP with

C: Non Western Lit (Not Started)
> Complete one Non-Western Literature course (non-British;
> non-American).
_____________________________________________________________________ 3 credits

D: English Electives (In Progress)
> Complete 21 semester hours of English/Literature/Advanced
> Writing courses as electives. At least 15SH must be at the
> 300/400 level to satisfy the requirement of 18SH of 300/400
> level coursework in the Area of Study. LIB-495 (Liberal
> Arts Capstone) can satisfy 3SH of this requirement.
Semester Hours Completed: 12.00
Group 1 (In Progress)
Semester Hours Completed: 6.00 Required: 15 Remaining: 9
Src Course # Title S.H. Grd TESC # Notes
1.. ENG-393... One Wrter's Vsion: Jane A 3.00 A
1.. LIT-302... Advanced American Lit II. (3.00) ___ *IP
_____________________________________________________________________ 3 credits
_____________________________________________________________________ 3 credits
_____________________________________________________________________ 3 credits
Group 2 (Completed)
Semester Hours Completed: 6.00
Src Course # Title S.H. Grd TESC # Notes
1.. LIT-221... Intro to Children's Liter 3.00 A
1.. LIT-209... English Literature II.... 3.00 CR LIT-209 *NE < What they equate the Eng Lit CLEP with

However, there is no 30 credit upper level requirement, the req is 18cr hrs at 300/400 level. I think you will have to take all the higher-level English/Lit courses TESC offers, which will be:

One Writer's Vision: Jane Austen (ENG-393)
Advanced American Literature I (LIT-301)
Advanced American Literature II (LIT-302)
African Encounters (LIT-331)
Non-Western Literature (LIT-460)
Liberal Arts Capstone (LIB-495)

Or, if you haven't paid the comprehensive tuition, you can take classes from BYU, they have a great selection of lit and english courses (the prereqs don't apply to independent study students!) University Online Course Catalog - BYU Independent Study

[Yenisei]

It's Ohio University, not Ohio State University that has the Credit-by-Exam options in UL English- they are primarily focused on Shakespeare. The BYU options are great, LSU has some good UL options as well, and the University of Western Washington has both Chinese and Japanese Literature (in translation), which will also meet the TESC non-Western requirement.

[birdandbee]

Thanks so much for the helpful info. I did purchase the TESC comprehensive plan, but I only have 9 credits remaining on it, so thereafter I will have to either pay by credit or seek out other, less expensive options in which case the BYU option may come in handy. I was looking over the BYU site earlier and trying to get a handle on how it works. I see it's indicated as "independent study". Would you happen to know if it works in a similar fashion as most online TESC courses (including discussion board activity and weekly or bi-weekly assignments)?

As for the Ohio University exams, does anyone know what their difficulty level is like, for example, as compared to CLEP? Also, are they readily-accepted by TESC?

Thanks so much!
-Dawn

[Yenisei]

I haven't taken any of these English Lit Ohio U exams, but I would expect the UL ones (the ones of use to you) to be more difficult than the CLEPs since the latter are LL. BYU courses are very good, but also quite rigorous. There probably aren't any discussion boards since it's Independent Study, but I'd expect a lot of writing.

[birdandbee]

Thanks again, Yenisei! I've been trying to find info re: credit by examination on the OhioU website, but can't seem to locate it. Would you happen to have a direct link (sorry to be such a pain about this)?


Just some last questions about Ohio U credit by exam - I'd love to be able to take the UL English exams they offer, but I'm wondering how the transfer process works. Do you have to enroll as an OhioU student in order to take them? Can you be enrolled as a student at OhioU and TESC simultaneously? Also, is TESC receptive to transfer of these credits?

[NAP]

Here's a thread with Ohio U credit by exam info:

http://www.degreeforum.net/general-educa...post108093

[Yenisei]

Thanks again, Yenisei! I've been trying to find info re: credit by examination on the OhioU website, but can't seem to locate it. Would you happen to have a direct link (sorry to be such a pain about this)?


Just some last questions about Ohio U credit by exam - I'd love to be able to take the UL English exams they offer, but I'm wondering how the transfer process works. Do you have to enroll as an OhioU student in order to take them? Can you be enrolled as a student at OhioU and TESC simultaneously? Also, is TESC receptive to transfer of these credits?

You don't have to be an enrolled student at Ohio U to take their exams. TESC will give you credit for them since Ohio U is regionally accredited.

[birdandbee]

Thanks so much for getting back to me, PonyGirl! I see you've taken Advanced American Lit - what are your thoughts on the course? Did you find it especially difficult/demanding? I'm debating whether I should just suck it up, so to speak, and take Advanced Am Lit I&II or if I should see if it would be possible to test out of both classes via the exams offered by Ohio U (as referenced by Yenisei).

[birdandbee]

Thanks so much for the link!