Free Winter term for Sophia members, Strayer U

[rachel83az]

What about collecting more credits from Strayer and then transferring them all to TESU when you're just short of graduation?

[bjcheung77]

@xcloudtset, I'd still recommend TESU even though you're trying to do a "triple dip" by getting 1) Tuition Assistance 2) GI Bill 3) HCOL

1) Find a cheapo community college in the HCOL area and take whatever courses are required that can be transferred into TESU
2) You need to take at least 16 residency credits at TESU, be aware of that and take only courses that can't be transferred in easily
3) Use only your work TA for courses at community college & TESU, just save the GI Bill for your upcoming masters degree at WGU

[dfrecore]

A bit torn, do I keep rolling through or transfer out. About 50% complete with my degree due to transfer credits, military JST/ACE credits, and various professional certificates. Open to anyone's 2c and food for thought. Thanks!

I may have missed it - what degree are you getting?  That certainly makes a difference.

[xcloudtset]

What about collecting more credits from Strayer and then transferring them all to TESU when you're just short of graduation?

I think this may be the ticket, I rolled through 5 courses on Sophia during my free quarter at Strayer. I'm already enrolled at Strayer for this quarter as well, so I'll try to cram out as many Sophia courses as I can as well. This route would hit well since I'd still collect my HCOL housing allowance, quick progress towards degree, and allow me to obtain a more reputable degree. I'll reevaluate towards the end of this quarter and reach out to TESU for a transcript eval. 

@xcloudtset, I'd still recommend TESU even though you're trying to do a "triple dip" by getting 1) Tuition Assistance  2) GI Bill  3) HCOL

1) Find a cheapo community college in the HCOL area and take whatever courses are required that can be transferred into TESU
2) You need to take at least 16 residency credits at TESU, be aware of that and take only courses that can't be transferred in easily
3) Use only your work TA for courses at community college & TESU, just save the GI Bill for your upcoming masters degree at WGU

Appreciate the advice! If I use my GI Bill only for my masters at WGU I'll still have a significant amount of time left on it to burn. Additionally, I'd only collect the "online" housing rate of roughly $900/m vs $2500/m for a local campus.

A bit torn, do I keep rolling through or transfer out. About 50% complete with my degree due to transfer credits, military JST/ACE credits, and various professional certificates. Open to anyone's 2c and food for thought. Thanks!

I may have missed it - what degree are you getting?  That certainly makes a difference.

BS in IT w/project management concentration
Currently hold PMP, CSM, CSPO certs

[dfrecore]

What about collecting more credits from Strayer and then transferring them all to TESU when you're just short of graduation?

I think this may be the ticket, I rolled through 5 courses on Sophia during my free quarter at Strayer. I'm already enrolled at Strayer for this quarter as well, so I'll try to cram out as many Sophia courses as I can as well. This route would hit well since I'd still collect my HCOL housing allowance, quick progress towards degree, and allow me to obtain a more reputable degree. I'll reevaluate towards the end of this quarter and reach out to TESU for a transcript eval. 

@xcloudtset, I'd still recommend TESU even though you're trying to do a "triple dip" by getting 1) Tuition Assistance  2) GI Bill  3) HCOL

1) Find a cheapo community college in the HCOL area and take whatever courses are required that can be transferred into TESU
2) You need to take at least 16 residency credits at TESU, be aware of that and take only courses that can't be transferred in easily
3) Use only your work TA for courses at community college & TESU, just save the GI Bill for your upcoming masters degree at WGU

Appreciate the advice! If I use my GI Bill only for my masters at WGU I'll still have a significant amount of time left on it to burn. Additionally, I'd only collect the "online" housing rate of roughly $900/m vs $2500/m for a local campus.

A bit torn, do I keep rolling through or transfer out. About 50% complete with my degree due to transfer credits, military JST/ACE credits, and various professional certificates. Open to anyone's 2c and food for thought. Thanks!

I may have missed it - what degree are you getting?  That certainly makes a difference.

BS in IT w/project management concentration
Currently hold PMP, CSM, CSPO certs

I'd look at WGU and Purdue Global for a competency-based BSIT, I don't think the Big 3 are good options for it at this point unless you can bring everything in from Strayer.

[jch]

I still have not heard back regarding the exam transcription issues or that one broken exam. Yesterday, I sent another round of emails asking for updates.  

Over the weekend, I decided to gamble with one more exam. The CIS210 Systems Analysis and Design exam was next on my priority list, as it's relevant to my degree plan and skills. 

When searching for relevant resources, I found anvari.net, a helpful site run by a former business professor at Strayer. It contains the slides, lecture notes, readings, and practice exams covering dozens of Strayer courses from the mid-2000s. Some courses still have working links to the interactive Prentice Hall online textbook! Unfortunately, the website is a jumble of several different versions and courses. The only way that you'll find many of the resources on the server is by doing a google search for site:anvari.net and the subject you want. 
I skimmed through Anvari's slides, glossary, and exams, in addition to some Quizlet decks and this relevant youtube playlist. 

The exam was another ProctorFU experience. The proctor kept having connectivity problems on their end, forcing them to frequently interrupt me for reconnection. 
It was the standard 50 multiple choice or true/false questions, 70% cut score, and 90 minutes. The questions covered basic systems design, architecture, project management, IT, and networking topics. I passed, and I'd estimate my score was about 90%.

[jch]

Huge update! The Strayer registrar actually responded positively! They stated they they drafted a letter back in February, but failed to get it approved and forgot to follow up on it. The representative emailed me today with a PDF of a letter which appears to meet all of TESUs requirements. Unfortunately, it only mentions the CIS170 credit and not the others that weren't in my degree plan. However, it seems that this might work. I just need to have them add the other stuff and mail it to TESU!

[rachel83az]

This is great news! I should get to studying and take the Strayer exam(s) that I had been planning on taking. I had put them off because of your issues. I've got enough going on right now without dealing with that kind of nonsense.

[jch]

TESU already got back to me with an approval of the draft letter! They sent an alert to the mailroom staff to set it aside for manual processing. Now I'm very optimistic!

For everyone else in this boat: it looks like there will be several manual steps required at each institution. I'll do a final write-up once this is all done.

[jch]

Strayer just emailed me the revised letter for approval, with all four exams listed. They should mail it out today or Monday. Now we just have to wait for the snails ️️️️.