Beginning Advice

[crotique]

I have lurked on this site for quite sometime now. Found it via Reddit. Hopefully I am posting this in the correct spot. 

After years of on and off again learning with no degree, I took the plunge today.
 
First goal is to achieve the TESU ASBA (via open course) and move forward from there within TESU for my bachelors degree. I have mapped out my plan of action thanks to all the information found on this forum.

Today I purchased the year of Sophia to receive all the core requirements I can receive there before heading off to finish up at Saylor. 
After receiving a good amount of cores I will apply at TESU or should I apply with TESU first? 

I appreciate any and all insight.

[jcooke]

I have lurked on this site for quite sometime now. Found it via Reddit. Hopefully I am posting this in the correct spot. 

After years of on and off again learning with no degree, I took the plunge today.
 
First goal is to achieve the TESU ASBA (via open course) and move forward from there within TESU for my bachelors degree. I have mapped out my plan of action thanks to all the information found on this forum.

Today I purchased the year of Sophia to receive all the core requirements I can receive there before heading off to finish up at Saylor. 
After receiving a good amount of cores I will apply at TESU or should I apply with TESU first? 

I appreciate any and all insight.

Great job! Sophia is an excellent place to start and knock out all of those gen eds.
At this point in the year, I think you have some wiggle room. You can still apply up until June 2021 and be on this year’s academic catalog.
If you want to be able to play around with different degree options, you can go ahead and apply. You can also begin sending your transcripts once you apply, so you can ask an advisor questions and tell them your plans. But it is certainly not necessary at this point, just your preference.

[natshar]

Do you have any prior credit at all?

Also Saylor is free to try it's just the exams that cost money. if I were you I'd poke around Saylor and maybe try a practice final and see how it goes. Because a lot of us here find Saylor difficult and it might be worth it to try something else.

Apply at anytime you could just do it now to get if over with. I would. Its only $50 and they take a month to get back to you.

[rachel83az]

You will most likely want to apply to TESU by November or so. There are a number of reasons for this:

1.) This will let you see where the credits that you've gotten will go in your degree. The advice provided here is just advice and may not be accurate as TESU changes policies.

2.) If TESU is going to change its catalog/requirements for a given degree, these tend to happen on January 1st or July 1st. If TESU were to suddenly decide for some reason (there is no indication that it's going to do this) to no longer accept certain Saylor courses towards your degree, those credits would still be valid so long as they were on your transcript before the change.

3.) Being fully enrolled (not just applied) at TESU unlocks access to academic resources like EBSCO and NJ State Library. These resources can be extremely valuable for other coursework that you might need to do for your degree.

The academic resourses can be especially valuable for Sophia's English courses and Business Law course.

[crotique]

Do you have any prior credit at all?

Also Saylor is free to try it's just the exams that cost money.  if I were you I'd poke around Saylor and maybe try a practice final and see how it goes. Because a lot of us here find Saylor difficult and it might be worth it to try something else.

Apply at anytime you could just do it now to get if over with. I would. Its only $50 and they take a month to get back to you.

I do, but it's from the 1987-1989, 2008 (writing course), and 2010. 
Anything core related is from the 80's in which I don't mind brushing up on, but I will submit to see if they will take any of it.


I tried Saylor, but it was a bit difficult and Sophia seemed to be a bit more user friendly for this old lady. I am hoping once I get back in the swing of things I could handle Saylor, but for now, not so much. 

Thank you for the advice. I may just go ahead and apply since it is just $50.

---

You will most likely want to apply to TESU by November or so. There are a number of reasons for this:

1.) This will let you see where the credits that you've gotten will go in your degree. The advice provided here is just advice and may not be accurate as TESU changes policies.

2.) If TESU is going to change its catalog/requirements for a given degree, these tend to happen on January 1st or July 1st. If TESU were to suddenly decide for some reason (there is no indication that it's going to do this) to no longer accept certain Saylor courses towards your degree, those credits would still be valid so long as they were on your transcript before the change.

3.) Being fully enrolled (not just applied) at TESU unlocks access to academic resources like EBSCO and NJ State Library. These resources can be extremely valuable for other coursework that you might need to do for your degree.

The academic resourses can be especially valuable for Sophia's English courses and Business Law course.

Thank you for your insight. I will just go ahead and apply since this is the route I am planning.

[rachel83az]

To become fully enrolled costs a total of $100. There is the $50 application fee + the cheapest TECEP that you can take (Medical Terminology) is another $50. You do not actually have to take it if you do not want to. Simply enroll, let TESU have their money, and withdraw after the deadline. Or you can take the test if you really want to. Full enrollment also unlocks unlimited transcript evaluations.

[dfrecore]

TESU will take your old credits (most schools will); the only caveat is that they're picky on how old some were if they're in the major (AOS). But if you took College Algebra in 1954, they will take that for your Quantitative Literacy requirement, no problem.

Also, I would not do the "open course" thing, I think it's lame. Just do it with Sophia, and then switch to another course provider for the rest (Study.com would probably be the easiest option).

Last but not least, the ASBA is way too expensive to do through TESU. Instead, just do the BSBA. You'll be so far along by the time you get done with the coursework for the ASBA, it won't seem too bad to keep going and get your bachelor's. That $3,128 residency waiver fee is a killer, save it for the BSBA!

[crotique]

TESU will take your old credits (most schools will); the only caveat is that they're picky on how old some were if they're in the major (AOS).  But if you took College Algebra in 1954, they will take that for your Quantitative Literacy requirement, no problem.

Also, I would not do the "open course" thing, I think it's lame.  Just do it with Sophia, and then switch to another course provider for the rest (Study.com would probably be the easiest option).

Last but not least, the ASBA is way too expensive to do through TESU.  Instead, just do the BSBA.  You'll be so far along by the time you get done with the coursework for the ASBA, it won't seem too bad to keep going and get your bachelor's.  That $3,128 residency waiver fee is a killer, save it for the BSBA!

Thank you so much for the insight!!!! Greatly appreciated.

[bjcheung77]

Hey there SpeckledYarnBug! crotique - Since several members have something helpful to say, I'll add mine too!
You should keep your options open to the Big 3 and also the Competency Based Degree providers such as Brandman/WGU.

1) Tip: Get a second monitor (I have a laptop + small monitor), it's so much easier navigating the course work with the online textbooks.
2) Focus solely on your Sophia.org courses until you get them done, take your time, don't rush, note these do not provide letter grades.
3) Once done, decide on your BSBA AOS (Area of Study), there are several options, I recommend the basic General Management option.
4) Choose your provider for these AOS courses, maybe Davar, InstantCertCredit, Study.com - If you're going TESU, they take ACE/NCCRS.
5) Regularly update this thread with questions, create your own spreadsheet with your degree plan paste it in a reply

Note: I understand cost maybe a factor, but you should also look at ease and speed to finish, I rarely recommend Saylor now because of the way their courses are made,
I would recommend a mix of cheap/easy/fast to get you the best value. I mean, paying slightly more for a Davar course may be easier/faster and thus a little less headache.

[LevelUP]

I would stay away from Salyor unless you have a lot of previous knowledge in the course and are great at testing.  The courses take a long time to complete and the final test often doesn't line up with the course material is what a lot of people on here report.  If you can score 60% or better on the practice test with zero studying, then maybe its worth of shot for some courses if you can find some low hanging fruit.  Going from a video format at Sophia to text format of Saylor takes time to get used to.

After you finish up at Sophia, a better option, if the price is your major motivation, is Instacert which is a similar format as Sophia.   Then finish up at Study.com.

Since you have previous courses, I would apply at TESU now to know what is going to come in.  They should take everything you have.  Risking things changing on degree programs isn't worth saving $50 per year.