Applying to TESC

[jeff]

I am currently taking as many CLEP and DSST exams as I can in the hopes of earning a BA in Liberal Studies from TESC. I laid out a roadmap back in January and I believe that I would be able to get credit for enough exams to tranfer in 120 credit hours and meet all of the requirements for this degree. I currently have 87 credits earned from CLEP exams, Microsoft Certifications, and FEMA courses.

My question is do I need to apply to TESC before completing all of my testing or can I wait until I am finished taking all of the exams and then apply to TESC and transfer in the credits?

Thanks,

[perrik]

You can apply now, or you can wait. It's your choice! The frugal option is to delay enrollment until you're at the point where you can finish up the remaining credits within the first enrolled year (so you don't have to pay enrollment fees for additional years).

You can sign up, transfer in the 120 credits, and as long as you've met all the requirements for your intended degree, you're done. Ah, the beauty of a zero-residency program!

[bkbarden]

I am currently taking as many CLEP and DSST exams as I can in the hopes of earning a BA in Liberal Studies from TESC. I laid out a roadmap back in January and I believe that I would be able to get credit for enough exams to tranfer in 120 credit hours and meet all of the requirements for this degree. I currently have 87 credits earned from CLEP exams, Microsoft Certifications, and FEMA courses.

My question is do I need to apply to TESC before completing all of my testing or can I wait until I am finished taking all of the exams and then apply to TESC and transfer in the credits?

Thanks,

I agree with Perrik, you can do it whenever you want! One thing you might want to consider... if you have a specific date that you want to graduate, make sure you apply and enroll a few months ahead of time so you can get an evaluation and make sure everything lines up the way you expect it to.

Also, you can apply now and not enroll for a few months if you want.

[thatbrian]

It takes FOREVER to graduate from TESC, so enroll now if you plan on finishing your degree within 9-10 months (you'll have 12 months before it costs you more $). That way you can get all of the paperwork started, which will help you get your diploma ASAP.

[jeff]

It takes FOREVER to graduate from TESC, so enroll now if you plan on finishing your degree within 9-10 months (you'll have 12 months before it costs you more $). That way you can get all of the paperwork started, which will help you get your diploma ASAP.

I was just reading some of the posts that talked about how long it takes for TESC to update transcripts.

Do you think it would speed the process up if I transferred all the credits in when I was finished? Maybe it wouldn't, I was just thinking that if they only had to do it once, it may get processed faster.

I have attached my current roadmap, it is an Excel spreadsheet. The exams that still need to be completed are denoted in red text. I would appreciate it if someone familiar with TESC requirements would take a look at it and let me know if you see any problems. I spent quite a bit of time putting it together and I think that it conforms to TESC requirements, but it would be nice to know of any problems before I get too far down the road.

Thanks for all of the advice and feedback you all have provided.

[bkbarden]

I was just reading some of the posts that talked about how long it takes for TESC to update transcripts.

Do you think it would speed the process up if I transferred all the credits in when I was finished? Maybe it wouldn't, I was just thinking that if they only had to do it once, it may get processed faster.

I don't think it would really make a difference in time. The only thing is that everything would show up at once, which could be easier for you to make sure everything got there.

When I talked to someone at TESC about graduation, they told me that as long as I had finished all the courses I could apply for graduation, even if the courses weren't reflected on my evaluation yet. She said if you're ready to graduate, they will process your transcripts faster. So that is a good thing, but I wouldn't want to test it... it would be better to be certain everything lines up before you apply for graduation.

Don't have time to look at the degree plan right now, but I'll try to later.

[jeff]

Hi Brittany,

Thanks for the information. I am kind of unsure what to do. I was thinking that maybe if I transferred everything after I was finished testing that I could then use the one year of tuition money to take some TESC classes toward a MA in Liberal Studies. Not sure if that makes sense or not. I am not sure if I can continue studying for CLEP/DSST exams and take classes at TESC at the same time.

Anyway I updated my roadmap with the course numbers in the hopes that it may make it easier to determine if there could be any potential problems. If I have interpreted everything in the catalog properly, I feel that I should be okay. I would appreciate you looking over my roadmap if you have some time.

Thanks again,

[bkbarden]

Hi Brittany,

Thanks for the information. I am kind of unsure what to do. I was thinking that maybe if I transferred everything after I was finished testing that I could then use the one year of tuition money to take some TESC classes toward a MA in Liberal Studies. Not sure if that makes sense or not. I am not sure if I can continue studying for CLEP/DSST exams and take classes at TESC at the same time. However, if you finish the Bachelor's, enroll, transfer in credit and then graduate, you can use the rest of your time to take MA classes.

Either way, I recommend applying soon if you expect to enroll in the next six months.

Anyway I updated my roadmap with the course numbers in the hopes that it may make it easier to determine if there could be any potential problems. If I have interpreted everything in the catalog properly, I feel that I should be okay. I would appreciate you looking over my roadmap if you have some time.

Thanks again,

Hm... if yo'ure wanting to continue onto an MA, your plan definitely seems the best way to go. You can take CLEP/DANTES exams and TESC classes at the same time, but I don't know if you can enroll in Master's level courses without having finished your Bachelor's degree.

Your degree plan looks great to me. The only things I really couldn't comment on are the Environment and Humanity DSST and Technical Writing. (just because I haven't taken those). But everything else looks great and I would imagine those two exams will be fine as well.

[jeff]

Thanks Brittany.

I appreciate your time and advice, and thanks again for looking over my roadmap. Good luck to you.

[LatinTea]

Hi Brittany,

Thanks for the information. I am kind of unsure what to do. I was thinking that maybe if I transferred everything after I was finished testing that I could then use the one year of tuition money to take some TESC classes toward a MA in Liberal Studies. Not sure if that makes sense or not. I am not sure if I can continue studying for CLEP/DSST exams and take classes at TESC at the same time.

Anyway I updated my roadmap with the course numbers in the hopes that it may make it easier to determine if there could be any potential problems. If I have interpreted everything in the catalog properly, I feel that I should be okay. I would appreciate you looking over my roadmap if you have some time.

Thanks again,

I'm afraid I don't have any new advice, but wanted to say thanks for posting your plan. I'm looking at something similar and I really like how you wrote it out for your spreadsheet. I must confess of copying and pasting and then redoing it to fit my tests/courses taken. I hope that's okay.

BTW, why did you choose TESC instead of the other 2 mentioned here? Still trying to decide which way to go.