Grad school after TESU?

[upshot]

First of all, I really appreciate all of the great information on this forum! Thanks so much to all who contribute! 

I'm interested in a history degree, and I've applied and been accepted at TESU. My plan is to transfer the maximum number of credits from Sophia, SDC, DSSTs, etc. I chose TESU largely because I have about 60 credits from an unconventional 2-year institution which has a standing arrangement with TESU, so I'm confident those credits will transfer smoothly. 

But I'm having second thoughts about TESU because of what I've read about how some transferred credits show up as pass/fail on a TESU transcript. I might want to go to grad school in the future, and from what I understand an undergraduate transcript full of pass/fails instead of letter grades could be an obstacle. Is this correct? What experiences have people had with applying to grad schools after graduating from TESU? 

I recall reading that an Excelsior transcript will have letter grades in these situations; would Excelsior be a better option for me? The 60 credits I referred to are ACE recommended, so Excelsior *should* accept them.

[rachel83az]

I can't really help you with the question of grad school, but you can apply to Excelsior at least to see if they'll accept your credits. If you've gotten at least 2 of the free Sophia courses, the application fee should be free. So you might as well see what they say.

[ss20ts]

Transfer credit typically shows as TR on a transcript. It doesn't usually come in with a grade because your GPA is made up of your coursework at each institution. EC is a bit different and they will bring your grades in. Note if you have grades that you're not happy about from years ago, those will show as well and be included in your EC GPA.

[rckola911]

My wife has a transcript full of the Pass/Fail type credits from her journey here.
She has a TESU BA degree.
Just recently she was accepted into a brick and Motar school "still online though" for her Masters.
I believe it really depends on the school.  The school for her masters probly doesnt come across this to often but she was accepted 
after they checked everything.  So i would advice to contact a admin person to the school you want to go to.  
I also want to add that her school for the masters required no more extra classes or anything of that nature. They did require a GPA of at least a B though.
That really never came in to play though "only a few classes had a gpa". TESU is a great school that carrys weight at most places. Alot of Military and Gov people use them,
so i cant imagine you would have to many issues. But always double check with an admission advisor.

[conflitz]

TESU is a regionally accredited school, so it checks that box. Anything beyond that will depend on the grad program. It'd be best for you to work backwards: first figure out which grad programs you'd like to attend, and then ask them to see if your academic plan would be sufficient.

Competitive grad programs would want to see mostly graded RA credit on your transcript so they have something to evaluate you on. Another thing to consider is letters of recommendation - would your plan help you make the academic contacts necessary for getting into the grad program you want? Non-competitive programs (especially ones that don't offer fellowships and charge high tuition) are usually just happy that someone applied, so a degree with mostly pass/fail credits usually aren't much of a concern for them.

[Merlin]

First of all, I really appreciate all of the great information on this forum! Thanks so much to all who contribute! 

I'm interested in a history degree, and I've applied and been accepted at TESU. My plan is to transfer the maximum number of credits from Sophia, SDC, DSSTs, etc. I chose TESU largely because I have about 60 credits from an unconventional 2-year institution which has a standing arrangement with TESU, so I'm confident those credits will transfer smoothly. 

But I'm having second thoughts about TESU because of what I've read about how some transferred credits show up as pass/fail on a TESU transcript. I might want to go to grad school in the future, and from what I understand an undergraduate transcript full of pass/fails instead of letter grades could be an obstacle. Is this correct? What experiences have people had with applying to grad schools after graduating from TESU? 

I recall reading that an Excelsior transcript will have letter grades in these situations; would Excelsior be a better option for me? The 60 credits I referred to are ACE recommended, so Excelsior *should* accept them.

If your goal is to enter grad school, you should figure out what grad school you want to go to, identify their entrance requirements, and work backward from there.

Most traditional grad schools just want to see that you've earned a regionally accredited bachelor's degree of some kind as the minimum bar. After that, they will want to see what courses you took that meet the entrance requisites for their program and what grades were earned there. That is usually where the rub is, since alt. education credits are generally ignored as part of that evaluation unless the grad school also accepts ACE credit. Grades can also be a problem since many grad schools will base your GPA on the last 60 credits earned. Others will only evaluate the courses that are required for their program, so you will want to make sure that those courses are earned at a college or university rather than alt. education credits. Beyond that they may also require a specific entrance degree, or a minimum score on the GMAT or GRE.

That said, from what the admissions people say, they often look at things like GPA and test scores as the least weighted part of the application. They tend to weigh the admission essay and the recommendation letters much higher... particularly if the recommendations come from someone highly respected in their field.

Of course, if you are looking at open entry and online graduate programs, they tend to just care that you completed a bachelor's degree. If they have any additional requirements, those are generally not hard to meet.

So, yes you can get into a good graduate program with a TESU degree made up mostly of alt. ed. courses, but the fewer traditional college courses you have (particularly ones that relate to the degree you're pursuing) the harder it will be to be accepted into the program. This can be balanced by having amazing references and a kick-butt entrance essay / personal statement / statement of purpose.

[videogamesrock]

Take a couple of courses at a CC and get a few A’s. You should be fine with a GPA for grad school. Nowhere does it say you need X amount of graded credits, just a GPA


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