Canadian, where to start ?

[bjcheung77]

First off, are you in Australia or in Canada? If in Australia, then stick with the Big 3, and a few of the Competency Based Degree providers - excluding WGU; if in Canada (some parts) you can go with WGU as well, I would apply to them anyway as it's free.
With 20 credits, I would do either one of two - start fresh, or try and transfer those courses through an evaluation agency.

The cost is roughly $200USD for all credits if you want to transfer them to the Big 3. If you're going for a BALS, then practically any of the big 3 or competency programs would work. For a BSBA, I would choose TESU. For BSIT - Brandman, Hodges, WGU. If you're just looking for a quick degree, the BALS or BSBA would be your best choice. I would recommend getting just the basic one, like BALS without any concentration and BSBA in general management as it's "faster".

I assume you would like to continue onward with an Australian University for Law, there are JD degrees from California schools if you wanted, it could be much cheaper as well. Furthermore, you can be a lawyer in California if you pass the baby bar and the BAR! Which Australian Law school did you correspond with? Most of their schools require a 65% average for GPA, some a 70%.

The one with the most Canadians is Bond University, as people like to "Finish" in two years. They offer courses and people take as much as possible within those 6 semesters, then they're done. Most schools are 3 years. The cost is pretty expensive compared to the self study ones in California, but cheaper than the well known schools.

[dfrecore]

I assume you would like to continue onward with an Australian University for Law, there are JD degrees from California schools if you wanted, it could be much cheaper as well. Furthermore, you can be a lawyer in California if you pass the baby bar and the BAR! Which Australian Law school did you correspond with? Most of their schools require a 65% average for GPA, some a 70%.

The cost is pretty expensive compared to the self study ones in California, but cheaper than the well known schools.

I'm not sure how we got to the California Self-Study courses for the California Bar, but their pass rates are abysmally low, plus it sounds like you want to live in Australia, so I'm not sure why you would get a CA law degree? I would go with your initial plan, and just go for a cheap BA/BS here in the US through one of the Big 3.

[bjcheung77]

OP I replied to your inquiry, the GPA is one thing they look into, but not all that matters. Most schools want enrollment so they'll most likely be lenient with that. TESU BSBA may be your best choice for 3 reasons, it's a University/ACSBP accreditation and the courses are easy to find/transfer over. Are you going to be moving to Australia for the job? or are you staying in BC, Canada? I know you're going for Law School in Australia but are you going to be practicing law?

[johnvan]

I finished a degree from TESU from Canada. You'll need to get your Canadian credits evaluated. Have a look the schools you're interested in and find out which companies they accept evaluations from. My evaluation cost about $300.
I mostly used straighterline to keep the costs down and avoid driving across the border to take CLEP tests. I did drive to Plattsburgh and write a CLEP there. I think it was about $30 for the proctoring fee.

[shendaddy]

I finished a degree from TESU from Canada. You'll need to get your Canadian  credits evaluated. Have a look the schools you're interested in and find out which companies they accept evaluations from. My evaluation cost about $300.
I mostly used straighterline to keep the costs down and avoid driving across the border to take CLEP tests. I did drive to Plattsburgh and write a CLEP there. I think it was about $30 for the proctoring fee.

Hey Johnvan

congrats on finishing...do you recall the company you used to get the credits evaluated ? As i'm looking at attending TESU, for the Bsba degree. 

Yeah, there is a location nearby in the states, that i can go to for the Clep tests if required. 

Any advice on what course to start off with..i'm eager to sign up for a course by the end of the weekend.

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I assume you would like to continue onward with an Australian University for Law, there are JD degrees from California schools if you wanted, it could be much cheaper as well.  Furthermore, you can be a lawyer in California if you pass the baby bar and the BAR!  Which Australian Law school did you correspond with? Most of their schools require a 65% average for GPA, some a 70%.

The cost is pretty expensive compared to the self study ones in California, but cheaper than the well known schools.

I'm not sure how we got to the California Self-Study courses for the California Bar, but their pass rates are abysmally low, plus it sounds like you want to live in Australia, so I'm not sure why you would get a CA law degree?  I would go with your initial plan, and just go for a cheap BA/BS here in the US through one of the Big 3.

yea, i will most likely follow that path. The plan would be to go to Austrailia for the degree but i would like to come back to Canada to practice.

[bjcheung77]

To answer your question on how to start, as per my recommendations on the guide/wiki
Do the free courses first, then work your way with the ALEKS courses (including Statistics)
Work on your Straighterline courses and finally finish with the Study.com/capstone.

1) Use this thread as your "accountability/questions/progress thread"
2) Read the Beginners Guide Sticky - most importantly, the links (first and last posts by me)
3) Download 2017 BSBA GM Plan, I customized the template from dfrecore with my recommendations

4) Read the quick section about completing the degree in 1200 hours (4 months/120 days)
If you want to get this done quick, you need to sign up for the Capstone when you have completed some courses.
My recommendation is to sign up for November term in order to graduate March 2018.

5) Continue to update thread with progress & PM me if you want with questions to the degree plan
There are a few people following the BALS and BSBA plan exactly as it is (with their courses transferred in from a previous source), you should do the same, as the GPA will not matter anyway. Transfer them into TESU, save time + $.

[johnvan]

The company I used isn't listed on the TESU website anymore. They may not be in business anymore. When I had my transcripts evaluated I wasn't sure which school I wanted to attend so I went online to each of the schools websites and cross referenced to see which evaluating company was accepted by all of them.
This is from TESU:
Academic Credentials Evaluation Institute, Inc. (ACEI)
www.acei-global.org
Center for Applied Research, Evaluations & Education, Inc.
www.iescaree.com
Educational Credential Evaluators, Inc. (ECE)
www.ece.org 
World Educational Services, Inc. (WES)
www.wes.org
SDR Educational Consultants
www.sdreducational.org
SpanTran Evaluation Services
www.spantran.com
Transcript Research
www.transcriptresearch.com

I started by writing the English CLEP exam. It was an easy 6 credits so that was pretty motivating.

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Here's a cut and paste from when I finished my degree. This may help you out.

I just received my letter from TESC certifying my graduation for a BA Liberal Studies this September. It took me roughly a year to complete using transfer credits from my Airline Transport Pilot License (ATP) and previous B&M schools. I initially enrolled in the BS Aviation which gave me a lot more transfer credits but in the end discovered it was cheaper and simpler to switch degree programs. I lost 20 credits by switching but made them up using Straighterline. Thanks to bricabrac for helping with my new degree plan in this thread http://www.degreeforum.net/general-educa...libst.html

Here's the breakdown of how I did it, hopefully this will help someone else plan their degree.

Previous Courses (B&M, Foreign University, 18 credits)
French I (3 CR)
French II (3 CR)
Introduction to Meteorology (3 CR)
Physical Geography (6 CR)
Introduction to Aeronautical Science (3 CR)

Airline Pilot License
44 credits awarded, 24 applied towards Liberal Arts Degree

CLEP ($175, 6 credits)
College Composition (6 CR)

ALEKS ($60, 9 credits)
Intermediate Algebra (3 CR)
College Algebra (3 CR)
Pre-calculus (3 CR)

Straighterline ($1160, 39 credits)
Cultural Anthropology (3 CR)
Business Ethics (3 CR)
Introduction to Religion (3 CR)
Western Civilization I (3 CR)
Western Civilization II (3 CR)
Organizational Behavior (3 CR)
Introduction to Sociology (3 CR)
Introduction to Environmental Science (3 CR)
Business Communication (3 CR)
U.S. History I (3 CR)
U.S. History II (3 CR)
Introduction to Psychology (3 CR)
Introduction to Philosophy (3 CR)

TECEP (21 Credits, $777)
Marriage and Family (3 CR)
Psychology of Women (3 CR)
Science of Nutrition (3 CR)
Abnormal Psychology (3 CR)
Environmental Ethics (3 CR)
Technical Writing (3 CR)
Computer Concepts (3 CR)

TESC (3 Credits, $1275)
Liberal Arts Capstone (3 CR)

Total cost above was $3447, plus $300 graduation fee, plus $300 foreign academic evaluation (ACCRAO), approx. $400 in textbooks, $175 ProctorU premium scheduling. Grand total $4622
Total time was about one year give or take a month.

Good luck to everyone else working on their degree!

[CollegeKid]

I'm looking into going to Law school in Austrailia...and i require an undergrad with a min gpa of 70% to apply. 

I just wanted you to know that I friend of my went to TESU with testing out and didn't have a real GPA. But he kept record of all of his testing scores because he wanted to go to law school. He presented his scores in defense of his "GPA" and was accepted.

Most people on this forum are just getting the passing grade of 70% on tests. But if you are going for law school, you may want to do your best on each test as it may be helpful for you in lieu of a GPA.

[shendaddy]

I'm looking into going to Law school in Austrailia...and i require an undergrad with a min gpa of 70% to apply. 

I just wanted you to know that I friend of my went to TESU with testing out and didn't have a real GPA. But he kept record of all of his testing scores because he wanted to go to law school. He presented his scores in defense of his "GPA" and was accepted.

Most people on this forum are just getting the passing grade of 70% on tests. But if you are going for law school, you may want to do your best on each test as it may be helpful for you in lieu of a GPA.

Hey !

thank you, i'll make a note of that. From the advisor i spoke to this morning, this seemed like the route to go. Cheers !

[Johann]

The plan would be to go to Austrailia for the degree but i would like to come back to Canada to practice.

That could be horribly expensive! If your law degree is British, Australian (or anything else other than Canadian) then I know Ontario's Law Society (LSUC) will make you take half a dozen VERY expensive courses before you can practice here. I think you'd be looking at a year and a half of full-time school and maybe $15,000 or up. Other provincial Law Societies have their own rules. Good luck!

J

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Maybe that's changed. Better? Worse? I don't know. New rules as of 2015. Looks very difficult. Here they are: http://docs.flsc.ca/NCAPoliciesREVJan2015.pdf
Interesting note - they say quite a few American lawyers have expressed interest in qualifying to work in Canada, since the U.S. Election in 2016.

J.