Is 3 TESC courses at a time too much?

[OE800_85]

I'm curious about this, since they offer 12-week programs, essentially finishing in 3 months. Do you think it's too heavy of a load to be doing 3 at a time? I currently work part time, between 20-30 hours a week. How much time do you actually spend on these courses, on a regular basis? Any help/comments would be really appreciated.

[jam123]

I just got done taking 4 courses (COS-330, COS-352, MAT-270, COS-241). These were my first courses at TESC but not first online. I was not working nor have family. I'm on extended vacation (live full time in RV) so I was doing a lot of sightseeing and some traveling at the time. MAT-270 was time consuming as it had lots of exercises to do all the time. I got three A's and one A minus. I could have taken another course but would have needed to cut back on my fun time.

I think you could pull of 3 courses and work part-time but it might depend on the courses. What courses are you planning?

[beargins]

It depends on the course and your drive. What courses are you taking?

[OE800_85]

well you can see from my signature, i'll try to take three of those at a time, so that I can get the best value out of the comprehensive tuition.
maybe i'll do: COS 330, MAT 270, and MAT 321
then: ENC 101, MAT 331, MAT 301
then: ENC 102, MAT 351, MAT 361
and finally: LIB-495, other outside course

It'll be a ton of math, I expect

[beargins]

You should be fine then. I'm taking 331 and 321 right now, its quite a bit of work but each written assignment is due every 2 weeks. I've taken COS 330 with 4 other courses at the same time(Data structs, Calc II, AI, discrete math). COS 330 is really fun.

[OE800_85]

great to hear it. so I suppose beargins you're doing something similar to me, with computer science and mathematics?
on a side note, do you have any recommendation for the order to take those math courses, given your experience? I've already done calc I and II but it was a long time ago, need to review it.

[mrs.b]

It depends on the courses and you. I have taken three courses a semester for the last four terms while working full-time (often 45-60 hours/week and on-call nights and weekends with random quick interruptions to derail trains of thought), with a family that includes a special-needs child, and added random extra credits on top of the TESC courses. Here's the list:

July '11 -- Microeconomics, Principles of Management, Principles of Statistics (also studied for and took CLEP Principles of Marketing)
Oct' 11 -- Organizational Behavior, Organizational Theory, Industrial Psychology (also started and completed Penn Foster Finance Management)
Jan' 12 -- Business Policy, Operations Management, Living in the Information Age (also started Penn Foster Business & Technical Writing)
For Apr' 12 term, I started with Human Resource Management, Sociology of Work, and Small Business Management but had to drop Small Bus Mgmt due to unexpected health issues that stole a lot of my school time. Since then, I finished 3 FEMAs, though, and have begun studying for Labor Relations ECE to replace the dropped course.

It would be difficult to say how much time I spend because I'm always grabbing five minutes here, thirty minutes there. I would estimate studying roughly 20 minutes to 1 hour at work (lunch, breaks, random intervals where I can crack the book). Once home, I would say 2 hours a night on weeknights. Weekends, probably 4-5 hours a day. Sometimes more. Sometimes I will pick a day and not touch a book at all as a break. That is for the courses plus the extra tests/etc though. I could not break it down more accurately because I jump from course to course to tests, and back to keep from growing bored with any one subject.

Three courses is doable, even with family and work. You need to be decent at time management and multitasking before you get started and prepared to become a time management pro along the way, ready for some late nights when time still runs out, and willing to learn how to do dishes and household necessity items while reading (window sill above my sink has a great frame to hold the book while hands are sudsy). Still...you can shave off semesters from your finish line by diving in. Group your course choices wisely so they complement one another wherever possible, and ready yourself, and you'll do fine.

[ryoder]

Go for it. I took 9 credits in one semester with a computer architecture and 6 cr env science and I work full time. I also worked on an MBA at the same time and had time to spare.

[beargins]

Most of us here are working adults and have families to provide for. Discrete math and linear algebra may take up most of your time honestly. So far I'm finding that Linear algebra is a bit easier than discrete math because the first sections on systems of equations and augmented matrices are covered at the end of a college algebra course. Discrete math on the other hand introduced a different way to look at math. There will be a tiny overlap between the concepts of calc III and linear algebra, so you could take them concurrently.

Overall you will just need to test your limits (pun intended), and take 3 upper courses and see how well you do. Its more than possible, but ultimately it depends on you.

One last tip, take the Online version not the guided study. If you get stuck on a problem or concept, its good to be able to make a discussion post and get feedback vs just relying on the mentor. I took discrete math and calc II guided study, if I could go back I would have taken the online versions. (on the other hand, Comp Arch, Data structs, AI, operating systems etc are fine as guided study courses)

[mrs.b]

One last tip, take the Online version not the guided study.

I definitely second that recommendation. Online courses typically alternate written assignments and discussion topics. Guided Study versions do not have discussion board topics, so they replace that with a written assignment, and those are the projects that will take the most time to complete. You will have more direct contact with a mentor in a GS course, but they are roughly double the work for the assignments. When loading up on courses, Online versions are easier to manage.