HELP!! Need Bachelors in 1 year!

[dfrecore]

Wow thank you so much for willing to help!
-ok and just so im not confused when you say "Big 3" does that mean the 3 schools that are the title of this discussion? Yes - TESU, COSC & EC
-ok so Im understanding that the CLEP/DSST are exams that I take first to get my credits and once i reach 90 credits i can apply to TESU? and after i do will i be taking regular courses or exams? to add up to 120 credits There is no rule on when you can apply to TESU, you can do it when you want. General rule of thumb on this forum is after around 90 units. You never have to take regular courses, you can completely test out of this degree.
-when you say the requirement is over 21 does that mean they will accept someone who is 21 because I am 21, and is this the requirement for the other 2 schools as well? I think it's just 21, you'll have to look it up. No idea on the other schools.
-As far as the CLEP/DSST exams....do they state the material that needs to be learn? how will i know what to study There is an exam guide for each exam you take that tells you what's on it. Just look it up on their websites.
-And if i understand correctly the exams are free since im military? and I only have to pay for the second time i take it? Yes. Except the military special on DSST's right now. It's on their website.
-And i could take exams at Saylor Academy only if they have the cources i need that are ACE OR NCCRS approved? You can take what you want, but only ACE or NCCRS will be accepted by the Big 3.
-Is Straightline and Study.com just courses? or can i take exams there as well? They are both courses, but SL's grades count on quizzes, midterms & final proctored exam. study.com's grade is based only on the final proctored exam.
-What is CSU-Global? and UL courses? CSU-Global is a college. They have CBE's (challenge by examination) that TESU accepts. UL is Upper Level courses. Usually 300- or 400-level courses at most colleges (junior/senior standing). You need 12cr UL in the Area of Study (AOS) for the BSBA at TESU.
-What is $250?.......to take the exams at TESU? The CSU-Global CBE's are $250 each.
-If i read correctly, i enroll as a non-degree student at TESU? No, at CSU-Global to access their CBE course/exams. When you apply at TESU, you'll apply for the Per-Credit Tuition Plan. Unless there's some sort of special military plan, in which case, do that. I'm completely unfamiliar with the military options at the 3 schools.
-And just to reasure myself, I will be taking these exams just so i can get into TESU and then graduate with a bachelors diploma from them right? Yes, everything you're doing from this forum is to get a degree at TESU. TESU accepts 120 (maybe 116 at this point?) transferred credits, from colleges, ACE and NCCRS approved courses, among other things. You need to take the Cornerstone and Capstone with them. The Cornerstone is a new requirement, it will be 1cr and cost $300. The Capstone for the BSBA is Strategic Management, and is available as a TECEP exam (TESU's in-house exam, you sign up for them like they're a course, but take the proctored exam online through ProctorU.

***Here are my completed and in process coursework all from the same local university

Course
BM 101 (D-22) Business Math for social sciences 101 (4.5 units) - counts as Gen Ed/Math requirement
EDUC 121 (D-21) College Studies 121 (4.5 units) - counts as Free Elective, not sure if they will accept it as Gen Ed?
ENGL 133 (D-1) Reading Comprehension (3 units) - counts as Free Elective, not sure if they will accept it as Gen Ed?
ALG 110 (D-22) Algebra 101 (3 units) - is this considered Beginning, Intermediate or College Algebra?
AP 145 (D-1) Anatomy & Physiology (3 units) - counts as Science
ENGL 145 (D-3) Technical Writing (3 units) - counts as Info Literacy requirement
ACCT 110 (D-21) Introduction to Accounting (4.5 units) - is this considered Financial Accounting? Or a more introductory course? What is the next course in the sequence at your school?
CIS 110 (D-1) Spreadsheets (4.5 units) - I don't think this will work in your Area of Study unfortunately
HC 115 (D-3) Healthcare Vocabulary (3 units) - I'm not sure if this will work in your Area of Study
*IN PROCESS* ALG 121 (D-22) Algebra 102 (3 units) - is this considered Intermediate or College Algebra?
*IN PROCESS* BIO 101 (D-3) Human Biology 101 (3 units) - counts as Science
*IN PROCESS* HC 265 (D-1) Medical Insurance Forms (4.5 units) - I'm not sure if this will work in your Area of Study

THANK YOU SO MUCH IN ADVANCE!

I can't quite make out what some of these courses would count as at TESU, so it's difficult to put them in the spreadsheet. So, I'm going to keep the Healthcare vocabulary and medical insurance forms out of the AOS, and then if TESU puts them there, you will only need to take 4 courses/exams from CSU-Global.

I don't know who is considered "military" to the DSST (if spouses count). If so, go to the DSST website and check out the exams, and the military info (there's a special deal going on right now through May 31). Then, see if there's a testing center nearby. If so, go take every single exam that will fit within your degree plan (you need 3 SocSci/Hum, Stats, and 3 Gen Ed's, plus Prin of Finance). Take them by April 30. If you don't pass, you can retake them before May 31 for free. Normally you can take them once and then you pay the second time, but they are waiving that right now.

Also, military can access Peterson's practice exams for free though the DOD website. So you can actually practice many of the exams for free (there are 3 practice exams for each test).

Obviously, if you don't think you can pass before May 31, then skip that particular exam. But if you think you might be able to take and pass an exam on the first or second try with just a month's worth of study time, it may be worth it to do so right now.

[bjcheung77]

Thank you so much!

You're welcome, this forum is very supportive and I love reading through so many of the inspirational threads on how each individual was able to finish their degree. What you're reading are only advice, opinions and should be considered. Ultimately, you decide on how to get the credits, which school, and when you finish.

I would follow the plan listed by dfrecore, there's no rush to applying yet. I also recommend applying and getting an evaluation as mentioned by davewill when you have a significant amount of credits to transfer over, but generally when you complete the general education, professional business requirements, and free electives.

You need a plan. You can get an initial evaluation from the college when you have less than 90 credits and follow it.
The Area of Study is the final part and have harder to find courses that will match what you need, that's when I would seek academic advising from the school and do a second evaluation. Once this set of courses have been completed, you would apply for graduation to verify everything has been done and pay for grad/waiver fees.

Every course in the various TESU BSBA programs are identical with regards to requirements, except Area of Study.
The spreadsheet shows what is required, what has been completed, and fees, as well as where to get your credits.
TESU BSBA Requirements: BSBA in Hospital Healthcare Administration Degree Program

[MrsHall]

I really appreciate you taking the time out to do this for me, I can't thank you enough!
-Is it easy to find if a course or exam is ACE or NCCRS approved?
-Do I HAVE to go through SL and Study.com? or is that just if i want to take a course on the subject
-Do I have to find a testing center near me? or can I take all of these exams online (which i prefer), If I can not take these exams online is there a specific testing center i have to find near me..what if there isn't one around and how will i take these tests at that center?
-On the spreadsheet under (Area of Study:General Management,[Any Healthcare Admin course/exam]).....do you mean to literally take any 4 healthcare admin class or exam that is Upper Level and then take 2 more that are not UL and TESU will accept those credits no matter what class they are just as long as they were UL?
-How do I access the peterson's practice exams through the DoD site?
-You mentioned there are 3 practice exams for every single exam? Are these including CLEP and DSST exams?
-Regarding the spreadsheet under the column (Where), what do you mean by "The Institues", "Kaplan", and "TECEP" ?
-On the spreadsheets where it says "Any" GenEd course or "Any" Social Science or Hum exam, how do i choose the right exam to take?
-Lastly, How do I start? should i continue going to my school while taking exams that i am not currently taking at the moment or do I let my semester finish and stop going to my school and just dedicate on the exams

Thank you!

[MrsHall]

You're welcome, this forum is very supportive and I love reading through so many of the inspirational threads on how each individual was able to finish their degree. What you're reading are only advice, opinions and should be considered. Ultimately, you decide on how to get the credits, which school, and when you finish.

I would follow the plan listed by dfrecore, there's no rush to applying yet. I also recommend applying and getting an evaluation as mentioned by davewill when you have a significant amount of credits to transfer over, but generally when you complete the general education, professional business requirements, and free electives.

You need a plan. You can get an initial evaluation from the college when you have less than 90 credits and follow it.
The Area of Study is the final part and have harder to find courses that will match what you need, that's when I would seek academic advising from the school and do a second evaluation. Once this set of courses have been completed, you would apply for graduation to verify everything has been done and pay for grad/waiver fees.

Every course in the various TESU BSBA programs are identical with regards to requirements, except Area of Study.
The spreadsheet shows what is required, what has been completed, and fees, as well as where to get your credits.
TESU BSBA Requirements: BSBA in Hospital Healthcare Administration Degree Program

Yes that makes sense thank you!
So i would take all the exams and when Im left with the Area of Study section on the spreadsheet is when i should call the school and ask what classes i need to take regarding my area of study? and do you know if they will tell me which exact exams/courses i need left for that?

[MrsHall]

You don't have to wait until you have 90 credits to apply... In fact, unlike dfrecore, I usually recommend people who have any significant number of units, as you do, go ahead and apply immediately. If they aren't sure which school they want to go to, then they can apply to all three.

That way you get an academic evaluation showing exactly how the courses you have now fit into your degree, which is handy if you aren't sure about some courses. I also just think it's a big shot in the arm to see the academic evaluation fill in as you send in test and course transcripts. These kinds of things can be very important. It's a long road, and we need all the motivators and pick-me-ups we can get.

Thank you for that!
Would I be able to call for an evaluation after several courses/exams or will they ask me why I don't just enroll in their school and take courses with them? I don't want to come off as if Im just calling them to get evaluations and Im not enrolling just yet?

[davewill]

Thank you for that!
Would I be able to call for an evaluation after several courses/exams or will they ask me why I don't just enroll in their school and take courses with them? I don't want to come off as if Im just calling them to get evaluations and Im not enrolling just yet?

TESU not only doesn't care, they even have a special award they give to grads who use a variety of "nontraditional" learning. Besides, you don't have to call them. You can access your evaluation online at any time. When you take a test, you have the transcript sent to them, and it just appears on the evaluation after a while.

In fact they even have degrees where they don't offer all the courses and you HAVE to take them elsewhere. They have a fee to pay if you don't take enough courses directly from them, so they don't lose out. They won't tell you what tests or courses to take from the outside, but if you ask them about a particular one, they can tell you how it will transfer in.

Testing centers for CLEP and DSST are typically at colleges (I took mine at the local National University campus) or on military bases (if you have access). Go to the ÇLEP and DSST websites and you can look up testing centers near you.

The best thing to do is to read a lot of the threads around here. Eventually, all of these things will become clear as you read about others' journeys.

[andreavw]

To see if a course is ACE approved, just look it up on their website: https://www2.acenet.edu/credit/?fuseacti...ripts.main

You don't have to go through Straighterline or Study.com, those are just one of the many ways to earn credit. Often, especially with gen ed's, there are multiple ways to earn credit. Straighterline and clep are just the more popular ways. I recommend taking a look at this page on the wiki- it shows many different courses you can take for each category. Sanantone's TESC General Education Options After July 1, 2015 - Degree Forum Wiki - Wikia

I haven't taken a Dsst but this is the link to find clep testing centers: https://clep.collegeboard.org/search/test-centers

I believe you have to have 12 UL credits in your area of study, so yes, 4 3-credit courses or exams would be enough.

The institutes is a free 2-credit ethics course, and Kaplan is referring to a free 3 credit course, if you search the forum for those keywords a bunch of threads will pop up with info on those. TECEPs are a type of credit by exam available through TESU.

My recommendation would be to get started by taking the analyzing and interpreting literature clep. It's a piece of cake, and will boost your confidence in this process. I would also recommend joining InstantCert, mostly for the access to the threads with specific exam feedback. Reading through those posts really helps with preparing for an exam by pointing you to the best study materials with tips from people who have taken the exam.

You can take exams at the same time you're enrolled in your local college, but if speed is your priority then it may be better to go full throttle on testing.

[cathgrl]

***Here are my completed and in process coursework all from the same local university

Course
BM 101 (D-22) Business Math for social sciences 101 (4.5 units)
EDUC 121 (D-21) College Studies 121 (4.5 units)
ENGL 133 (D-1) Reading Comprehension (3 units)
ALG 110 (D-22) Algebra 101 (3 units)
AP 145 (D-1) Anatomy & Physiology (3 units)
ENGL 145 (D-3) Technical Writing (3 units)
ACCT 110 (D-21) Introduction to Accounting (4.5 units)
CIS 110 (D-1) Spreadsheets (4.5 units)
HC 115 (D-3) Healthcare Vocabulary (3 units)
*IN PROCESS* ALG 121 (D-22) Algebra 102 (3 units)
*IN PROCESS* BIO 101 (D-3) Human Biology 101 (3 units)
*IN PROCESS* HC 265 (D-1) Medical Insurance Forms (4.5 units)

Welcome, MrsHall. Where are you currently taking courses? It looks like it might be Southwest Univ in Louisiana?

[MrsHall]

To see if a course is ACE approved, just look it up on their website: https://www2.acenet.edu/credit/?fuseacti...ripts.main

You don't have to go through Straighterline or Study.com, those are just one of the many ways to earn credit. Often, especially with gen ed's, there are multiple ways to earn credit. Straighterline and clep are just the more popular ways. I recommend taking a look at this page on the wiki- it shows many different courses you can take for each category. Sanantone's TESC General Education Options After July 1, 2015 - Degree Forum Wiki - Wikia

I haven't taken a Dsst but this is the link to find clep testing centers: https://clep.collegeboard.org/search/test-centers

I believe you have to have 12 UL credits in your area of study, so yes, 4 3-credit courses or exams would be enough.

The institutes is a free 2-credit ethics course, and Kaplan is referring to a free 3 credit course, if you search the forum for those keywords a bunch of threads will pop up with info on those. TECEPs are a type of credit by exam available through TESU.

My recommendation would be to get started by taking the analyzing and interpreting literature clep. It's a piece of cake, and will boost your confidence in this process. I would also recommend joining InstantCert, mostly for the access to the threads with specific exam feedback. Reading through those posts really helps with preparing for an exam by pointing you to the best study materials with tips from people who have taken the exam.

You can take exams at the same time you're enrolled in your local college, but if speed is your priority then it may be better to go full throttle on testing.

Thank you for the links!
-Regarding The Institutes and the Kaplan, are these courses or exams? And would I have to call them to apply with them as a student or can I apply to just take those specific courses?
-As far as TECEP, it would be best to do that once I apply to the school after I feel I have enough credits right? or do they let you take that exam without being a student?
-Is the analyzing and interpreting literature CLEP a requirement exam? like a prerequisite?
Yes speed is my reason for this so I will do that thank you so much!

[MrsHall]

TESU not only doesn't care, they even have a special award they give to grads who use a variety of "nontraditional" learning. Besides, you don't have to call them. You can access your evaluation online at any time. When you take a test, you have the transcript sent to them, and it just appears on the evaluation after a while.

In fact they even have degrees where they don't offer all the courses and you HAVE to take them elsewhere. They have a fee to pay if you don't take enough courses directly from them, so they don't lose out. They won't tell you what tests or courses to take from the outside, but if you ask them about a particular one, they can tell you how it will transfer in.

Testing centers for CLEP and DSST are typically at colleges (I took mine at the local National University campus) or on military bases (if you have access). Go to the ÇLEP and DSST websites and you can look up testing centers near you.

The best thing to do is to read a lot of the threads around here. Eventually, all of these things will become clear as you read about others' journeys.

Cool! so how do I get the evaluations started with them? And I have found the center on the military base I can go to, and yes i have been reading more and it's making more sense every time lol thank you!