Help a newbie

[sanantone]

As I mentioned on the other forum, I think you should apply to all 3 schools to not only see which one will accept the most credit, but also to see which one will give you the most UL credit in the major. It can be difficult to find quick options for completing UL credits when there are hardly any tests/self-paced courses available for your major. I believe all of the Big 3 offer a degree program that will work with your applied/professional credits.

[rebel100]

Everything Cook said, and It sounds worthwhile to spend $75 to apply at Excelsior and see how they evaluate your credit, Apply at COSC at the same time and see where you land there to.

You don't need to hoard Math credit...you need 3 hours at the college level (college Algebra or above) at COSC and I believe 6 hours st TESC or EC....at any rate not more than 6 credits in Math, I think your gonna have plenty of LL credit so don't spin your wheels on stuff you don't need.

Let me break it down a little better:

Today...go to fafsa.gov and apply. You may not want to take classes but a full PELL grant which you might qualify for could mean a free degree for you...go apply.

Pick a couple of LL gen eds to pursue and get started. ALEKS is great...go get College Algebra done.

Go to freeclepprep.com and read through the Analyzing and Interpreting literature CLEP...study that for a few days and go take it.

Once you have those three things done we can look at the rest....but there is no need to wait....go get started, action is called for.

[sanantone]

TESC only requires 3 math credits unless you count statistics as math. Some TESC degree programs require statistics and so do some COSC programs. I don't see the problem with hoarding math credits cheaply through ALEKS if you're in need of general education and free elective credits. You paid the $20 for the month, so you might as well try to complete as many courses as you can.

[rebel100]

TESC only requires 3 math credits unless you count statistics as math. Some TESC degree programs require statistics and so do some COSC programs. I don't see the problem with hoarding math credits cheaply through ALEKS if you're in need of general education and free elective credits. You paid the $20 for the month, so you might as well try to complete as many courses as you can.

I don't have an issue with "hoarding math credits" but I think he's got plenty of LL credit....I wouldn't concentrate on accruing a bunch of credit that will just duplicate free electives in the end. There are other things he can concentrate that will move the process forward. But you may be right, if he's a math savant and can just knock em down really easy then there is no harm.

[sanantone]

I haven't looked at COSC and EC's general education requirements in awhile, but TESC requires a lot of general education credits. If the OP already has enough natural science credits, then the rest of the math credits can go in the general education electives as long as two different areas of study are included.

[cookderosa]

I don't have an issue with "hoarding math credits" but I think he's got plenty of LL credit....I wouldn't concentrate on accruing a bunch of credit that will just duplicate free electives in the end. There are other things he can concentrate that will move the process forward. But you may be right, if he's a math savant and can just knock em down really easy then there is no harm.

My issue with concentrating on an ALEKS class "today" is that it takes him away from here figuring out what is the right process. This guy has >200 credits. Clearly earning credit is not a problem, it's going to take some serious planning to find the best degree path that returns the best yield. I'd give him till Friday to figure out which way is up. He isn't asking the right questions, which means he doesn't know what he doesn't know just yet. He'll figure it out quickly I'm sure.

[sanantone]

I thought the OP took 200 classes that look mostly to be non-credit certificates. Outside of FEMA and the EMT certifications, it would be hard to get credit for everything else if the courses aren't ACE or NCCRS evaluated.

[rebel100]

I thought the OP took 200 classes that look mostly to be non-credit certificates. Outside of FEMA and the EMT certifications, it would be hard to get credit for everything else if the courses aren't ACE or NCCRS evaluated.

I believe he has 40-60 credits at the LL...that leaves specific Gen Eds and 30 UL in some sort of cohesive formula to reach the magic 120. I don't believe that anyone can accurately assess what he has till he submits them to a couple of schools.

I take back my recommendation on EC because I know the OP is on a budget and EC will want $76/credit for all those FEMA to be transcribed through FCC. I love some of the TESC programs...but if we're bargain shopping TESC takes themselves out with that huge annual enrollment fee.

I know I'm close on my assessment for COSC....but it's sort of pointless to keep kicking the can until the OP acts on some of the recommendations (like completing his FAFSA).

[sanantone]

The expense depends on the major and where the requirements have to be taken. If the OP has to rely on independent study courses at $300+ each, then COSC could be much more expensive than TESC. The best way to maximize financial aid is by taking dirt cheap courses at a community college and having them transcribed by TESC as UL credit.

[rebel100]

The expense depends on the major and where the requirements have to be taken. If the OP has to rely on independent study courses at $300+ each, then COSC could be much more expensive than TESC. The best way to maximize financial aid is by taking dirt cheap courses at a community college and having them transcribed by TESC as UL credit.

Its a valid technique, but I disagree with it being the "best" way to max f/a. Your argument assumes full knowledge of how TESC will transcribe a given CC course (I have never seen any such list...if you have it please share). And the technique begs the question...How does one apply the aid? Assuming you know which CC courses count at the UL at TESC do you then matriculate at TESC or the CC? If you do both your going to pay the yearly fee of over $3k and use up >1/2 of a grant (before the first class is taken). If you matriculate at the CC your still going to face the TESC fee when you do transfer...TESC is charging $3K+ just to be there. Contrast this with COSC who charges by their enrollment fee by the semester at around $225...plus they are quite willing to serve as your f/a conduit in consorting with a second school to complete the magic 12 credits for full time status.

I'll agree that in some cases your idea will work well. It would be interesting to see which majors this is truly beneficial in. In the liberal studies or general studies area there are several $100/credit options out there that have the added benefit of being asynchronous and self paced...one can argue that these are a better value than a structured CC course that cost's around the same money.