I’m Finishing My TESU Degree Without Debt or Burnout : Here’s Exactly How I’m Doing..

[ColePalmer]

Hey guys, just wanted to shed some light into my experience as a student and share my experience. So, I’m on track to finish my TESU degree faster than I ever thought possible, without student loans, and without pulling all-nighters.
Hey everyone! I’ve been quietly working on my TESU degree for a while now, using a mix of transfer credit, self-paced learning, and a lot of trial and error. I figured it’s finally time to share what’s been working for me. Whether you're just starting or feeling stuck in the middle of your journey, I hope this helps make the process a little easier for someone else too. So this thread is going to be all about this stuff. Hope you learn something new from it and for myself too.

[ColePalmer]

So, at first i knew nothing about how it worked or what to follow. I also did not like the idea of spending a good amount of time on courses which realistically would not be ideal for my career growth. I was not looking for a shortcut but for something that would fit along my schedule. Then i started doing my research and came across ACE and NCCRS credits. I was skeptical at first, but the more I looked into it, the more it seemed like a real option. I saw other students taking general courses like English Comp or College Algebra through ACE-approved platforms, transferring them to TESU, and moving forward with having more money in my account.

I did a general course at first to make see if it actually worked or not. And it did!!! , When the credit finally showed up in my TESU evaluation, it was a weird mix of relief and motivation for me. What was the first course that gave you that “this is actually happening” feeling? Or are you still figuring out where to begin?

In the next few posts, I’ll go over some of the courses I took through ACE and walk through how I chose them, how the process worked, and how they ended up fitting into my TESU degree. Hope it helps someone map out their own path too.

[LevelUP]

What was the first course that gave you that “this is actually happening” feeling? Or are you still figuring out where to begin?

I started with ModernStates and CLEPs. Once I realized I could knock out the vast majority of CLEPs in under a week, I thought, 'Wow, this is possible in a reasonable amount of time.

[ColePalmer]

That’s awesome! ModernStates and CLEPs are such a game changer when you first discover them. Being able to knock out credits in a week really flips the whole idea of how long a degree should take. Once you see it working, it’s hard not to get hooked on the momentum.

Did you have a favorite CLEP or one that surprised you by how doable it was?

[bjcheung77]

Welcome to the board, CLEP/ModernStates isn't for everyone, LevelUP and I mentioned that Sophia.org and Study.com may be easier, faster, in the long run as both are non proctored and you can zip through it at home at your leisure. Some can finish a class or two in a matter of days, vs CLEP will take a week or more... Please fill in the addendum/template for us to assist you better: https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...Area-works

[ColePalmer]

After that first course went through, I realized I needed a proper plan. I didn’t want to just keep taking random classes and hope for the best. So I pulled up my TESU academic evaluation, looked at what was missing, and started building a simple spreadsheet to track everything.
I listed out general courses like ENC-101 English Composition, MAT-121 College Algebra, SOC-101 Introduction to Sociology, COM-209 Public Speaking, and ENS-200 Environmental Science. Just basic gen eds, but stuff I knew I’d need no matter what. I added columns for which ACE provider I’d use, how many credits it was worth, and what TESU requirement it would fill. Every time I finished one, I’d check my eval to make sure the credit showed up and update the sheet.
It wasn’t some perfect system, but it helped me keep my head on straight. Next, I’ll talk about one of the core courses I picked early on and how I made sure it would actually count before I started it.
Would be interesting to know how others approached this too, whether you planned everything from the start or just figured it out as you went, maybe with help from someone who’d already done it.

[bjcheung77]

Yes, the spreadsheet of your degree plan is a critical tool as you would use it for reference and tracking purposes of your progress. You can follow the plans on the WIKI and customize it if ever needed, the majority of the time, the degree plans already are optimized for cost, ease, speed to finish. I would follow it unless of course, you want to take extra classes for the learning and knowledge gaps...

[LevelUP]

That’s awesome! ModernStates and CLEPs are such a game changer when you first discover them. Being able to knock out credits in a week really flips the whole idea of how long a degree should take. Once you see it working, it’s hard not to get hooked on the momentum.

Did you have a favorite CLEP or one that surprised you by how doable it was?

The Information Systems CLEP was quite easy for me and was the first one I took. I studied for only about five hours for that exam.

The College Composition CLEP was another quick and easy one. I studied for around 10 hours and earned 6 credits for it.

Many people don't realize that you can pass some of these CLEPs by getting only around 50% of the answers correct. They are much easier than Saylor exams.

Basically, if you can score around 70% on a practice exam, you will almost certainly pass the actual CLEP exam. The key is to find low-hanging fruit, leverage your existing knowledge, and study efficiently to make CLEPs work for you.

Would be interesting to know how others approached this too, whether you planned everything from the start or just figured it out as you went, maybe with help from someone who’d already done it.

I used a spreadsheet to plan out each course for my degree. Then it was just a matter of going through one alternative credit provider at a time to complete the courses.

Another thing to keep in mind is identifying which courses are likely to be difficult or time consuming so you can be prepared for them.

I have not seen it discussed much on DF, but a great idea is to journal your degree journey. For each course, you can write down your thoughts, such as frustrations, and most importantly, document your wins to use as motivation to keep going. That way, you will have a personal history you can look back on after you earn your degree.

I wish I had done more journaling myself. I really only recorded basic information, like how long each course took.

Another idea is that after you finish a course, pretend you are a teacher and have to explain the entire course in 10 minutes to someone else. Write down all the key concepts on a single sheet of paper. This is a powerful technique that can help you remember what you learned for a long time. That concept is similar to the Feynman Technique.

Also learn how to read properly.
https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...ht=reading

[ColePalmer]

Totally agree with you on planning it out. I built a spreadsheet early on and it made a huge difference, just having that roadmap kept me from spinning in circles.

I transferred in a bunch of ACE credits, but looking back, I definitely could’ve squeezed in a few CLEPs too. Some of the gen eds I took could’ve been knocked out way faster.
Also really liked your point about journaling. I didn’t do much of it either, but now that I’m further along, I wish I had kept notes on how each course went, what worked, what didn’t, etc.  Would’ve been cool to look back on.

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Yeah, same here. My spreadsheet really helped keep everything on track, especially after each course posted to my TESU eval. This could’ve worked too. I just checked what I already had and built around that. Keeping it simple made the whole process way less overwhelming...

[ColePalmer]

One of the first core courses I took was COS-101 : Intro to Python.

I didn’t want to only focus on gen eds, and this one felt like a good way to ease into the major without going straight into the deep end. I figured if it went well, it’d give me a boost to keep going.

To be honest, I was just figuring things out as I went. A few print statements, messing around with loops, watching random YouTube videos when I got stuck… slowly started making sense.
Finished the course, added it to my ACE transcript, and a little while later, it showed up in my TESU eval. Under core requirements.
Felt kinda surreal, honestly. I didn’t overthink it, I just picked something, finished it, and suddenly I was making real progress.

What helped you decide which course to take first? Was it based on what felt doable, what fit your degree, or just something you were curious about?