Looking for some advice before applying to TESC/TESU

[Archer]

Here's my situation, I'm 24 and I've pretty much attended college off & on since I was 18. I have over 100 quarter credits from a CC, so like ~60 semester credits or whatever. I've become pretty burnt out on it though and just want to finish as fast as possible. I was majoring in Computer Science but I've taken a few terms off, as I was about to transfer into a four year and wanted to wait for financial aid access (at 24 I no longer have to count my parent's income) rather than continuing to pay out of pocket, which prompted the search that lead me here.

I was working in broadcast engineering but due to cutbacks in that industry I left for an IT gig. Which I work at currently, it has a relatively flexible schedule, I basically get to pick my hours & as long as I work over 30 hours to keep my benefits I'm golden. I still want a more flexible schooling solution and something fast.

As such I'm curious if you could answer some questions relating to TESC/TESU for me.

1. I've heard one should finish their credits before transferring to TESC that way they only have to pay one year of the enrollment fee? But how do you know the credits will all transfer correctly?

2. How feasible is getting financial aid on say the enrolled options plan? Is it hard? I've read it's hard but details are often slim.

3. I also don't have a high school diploma (I was home schooled) though I do have the credits from a community college towards a comp sci degree, I've taken calculus 1/2, discrete math, beg. C++, int. C++, beginning data structures, etc. Do you think they'd make an exception on the high school diploma thing on the basis I already have so many college credits?

4. I'm looking at a dual major, BS BA/CIS & Computer Science. If I do that do I need to meet different gen ed. requirements for the BA too, or just the BS BA + the core Comp Sci credits? Is it possible to get the 18 required 300-400 level credits somewhere online? Straighterline? Course accessibility might be an issue with my plan to dual major.

5. I'd like to transfer in sooner and get an associates in computer studies or the business administration one via saylor, is this advisable or should I not even bother since I'd have to pay the enrollment fee on the associates degrees? Then again later on the BS?

6. How bad are the actual classes? I've heard bad things and OK things, are the finals they use for actual courses the same as the TECEP?

Thanks for your time folks.

[Prloko]

Archer, first things,welcome to the forum.

You keep mentioning, "I heard...". From whom are you hearing this? TESC has been making bigger changes of late, one being they have given an extra tuition option called the per credit tuition plan. Search the forums as this has been discussed ad nauseum.

I would advise you apply to the three assessment colleges discussed on these forums (TESC, EC, COSC) to see where you stand with each.

As far as a high school diploma, im not sure that is even a requirement being that many high schoolers complete courses with these schools. I would think you would be considered a transfer student.

financial aid with the school is not difficult to get, you only need to be enrolled in 6 SH at a time to get aid.

Im wondering if you heard your info from other homeschoolers or CP, which give terrible advise. You've come to the right place. Search this site some more (use google, its easier), and ask questions and you'll get some great answers.

[sanantone]

I'd have to check to see if there have been any changes to this policy for the 2015-2016 school year, but you can't double major across types of degrees. You can choose a double major among the BA programs or you can choose a double area of specialization among the BSBA programs.

[swalke321]

1. I've heard one should finish their credits before transferring to TESC that way they only have to pay one year of the enrollment fee? But how do you know the credits will all transfer correctly?

TESC has the Pay Per Credit plan so you can apply early on in the process. It is helpful to apply early since you lock in a degree plan and if there are any changes then you do not have to worry about not being able to graduate on time. It also allows you to transfer in credits from outside TESC and have your academic plan updated regularly. The pay per credit plan allows you to take one TECEP per 12 month period and remain an enrolled student. If you plan on using financial aid you would want to find out how it affects financial aid.

5. I'd like to transfer in sooner and get an associates in computer studies or the business administration one via saylor, is this advisable or should I not even bother since I'd have to pay the enrollment fee on the associates degrees? Then again later on the BS?

You pay one enrollment fee every 12 months. If you choose the comprehensive tuition plan the enrollment fee is included. The enrolled options plan has an enrollment fee and then you pay for each class that you take. The pay per credit plan allows you to be enrolled after registering for at least 3 credits. I first applied to the BA CJ program. I then decided to take a TECEP before officially enrolling. After the TECEP semester began I became an enrolled student. A couple of months later I decided I wanted to pursue the AAS in CJ. I emailed advising and asked to have the AAS CJ added to my record. I did not have to reapply or pay any additional fees. I have both the AAS CJ and BA CJ on my record. I plan on graduating with the AAS in CJ first and then continuing with the BA CJ. If you graduate twice, you have to pay separate graduation fees. As long as I register for a TECEP in April or switch to a different tuition plan I will remain an enrolled student.

[Archer]

Archer, first things,welcome to the forum.

You keep mentioning, "I heard...". From whom are you hearing this? TESC has been making bigger changes of late, one being they have given an extra tuition option called the per credit tuition plan. Search the forums as this has been discussed ad nauseum.

I would advise you apply to the three assessment colleges discussed on these forums (TESC, EC, COSC) to see where you stand with each.

As far as a high school diploma, im not sure that is even a requirement being that many high schoolers complete courses with these schools. I would think you would be considered a transfer student.

financial aid with the school is not difficult to get, you only need to be enrolled in 6 SH at a time to get aid.

Im wondering if you heard your info from other homeschoolers or CP, which give terrible advise. You've come to the right place. Search this site some more (use google, its easier), and ask questions and you'll get some great answers.

My understanding is based around searching places like this and DegreeInfo, eventually I just decided to join.... Thought DegreeInfo wouldn't let me after like 5 tries because I kept getting caught in their spam filtering system and I just said f it and came over here. I guess I'll look into getting fin. aid with that enrolled options plan then, thanks for the heads up! As for the HS degree, I did read in their admission requirements that they wanted a GED/HSD but could under some circumstances overlook it. I'm hoping they will because it'd be pointless busy work to go earn a GED when I have college level calc, data structures, etc. under my belt already.

I'd have to check to see if there have been any changes to this policy for the 2015-2016 school year, but you can't double major across types of degrees. You can choose a double major among the BA programs or you can choose a double area of specialization among the BSBA programs.

That's a bit of a bummer to hear that. Regardless, I actually wanted to speak to you Sanantone;

1. You're going to Edmonds, are those credits going to transfer well for your BSBA program at TESC? Will you be done with the CIS requirements in your BSBA with those transferred in? You're going through this program, correct?

2. Lets say I have 20 hours a week to invest in studying, how quickly would you say you moved through saylor courses and tested successfully, on average? How quickly for the Edmonds Web Dev classes? I have prior programming experience, so it's not like I'd be jumping in the deep end, mostly it looks like a good deal for the credits.

1. I've heard one should finish their credits before transferring to TESC that way they only have to pay one year of the enrollment fee? But how do you know the credits will all transfer correctly?

TESC has the Pay Per Credit plan so you can apply early on in the process. It is helpful to apply early since you lock in a degree plan and if there are any changes then you do not have to worry about not being able to graduate on time. It also allows you to transfer in credits from outside TESC and have your academic plan updated regularly. The pay per credit plan allows you to take one TECEP per 12 month period and remain an enrolled student. If you plan on using financial aid you would want to find out how it affects financial aid.

5. I'd like to transfer in sooner and get an associates in computer studies or the business administration one via saylor, is this advisable or should I not even bother since I'd have to pay the enrollment fee on the associates degrees? Then again later on the BS?

You pay one enrollment fee every 12 months. If you choose the comprehensive tuition plan the enrollment fee is included. The enrolled options plan has an enrollment fee and then you pay for each class that you take. The pay per credit plan allows you to be enrolled after registering for at least 3 credits. I first applied to the BA CJ program. I then decided to take a TECEP before officially enrolling. After the TECEP semester began I became an enrolled student. A couple of months later I decided I wanted to pursue the AAS in CJ. I emailed advising and asked to have the AAS CJ added to my record. I did not have to reapply or pay any additional fees. I have both the AAS CJ and BA CJ on my record. I plan on graduating with the AAS in CJ first and then continuing with the BA CJ. If you graduate twice, you have to pay separate graduation fees. As long as I register for a TECEP in April or switch to a different tuition plan I will remain an enrolled student.

Thanks for the info.

The other question I have is regarding quality of the actual courses at TESC vs. taking everything and transferring in, how are they? I've heard very mixed reviews but then you go onto ratemyprofessor and a lot of professors have positive marks, as far as I know TESC is almost exclusively online (outside the nursing program, right?) so how can the reviews of classes seem so mixed but the professors so well received?

[sanantone]

M
That's a bit of a bummer to hear that. Regardless, I actually wanted to speak to you Sanantone;

1. You're going to Edmonds, are those credits going to transfer well for your BSBA program at TESC? Will you be done with the CIS requirements in your BSBA with those transferred in? You're going through this program, correct?

2. Lets say I have 20 hours a week to invest in studying, how quickly would you say you moved through saylor courses and tested successfully, on average? How quickly for the Edmonds Web Dev classes? I have prior programming experience, so it's not like I'd be jumping in the deep end, mostly it looks like a good deal for the credits.

I'm going through the Web Development program, but it's not like the one you linked to. There is not much room for lower level CIS credits in TESC's BSBA, and community college credits are always lower level at TESC. Out of the 18 credits for the CIS area of study, 12 of those need to be upper level. I only plan on using one class from Edmonds to fulfill the programming requirement. DSST in MIS, DSST in Cybersecurity, TECEP in Networking Technology, and the CSU Global CBEs for Information Systems Analysis and Design and Cloud Computing can take care of the upper level requirements. TEEX offers three, free, two-credit courses that transcribe as CIS. Two of them are 200-level, and the other is 300-level, but it duplicates the Cybersecurity DSST. Because I took the TEEX course, I'm one UL credit short, but they're waiving it.

I have no experience with taking Saylor tests for credit. At Edmonds, you can move through three or four modules very quickly by passing the CIW certification exams instead of completing the assignments. For most of the modules, you have the option of skipping directly to the project to prove competency. I haven't gotten deep into the programming stuff yet, but the first few modules have easy quizzes and assignments. I was finishing modules in a few hours, and I have no programming experience. The CIW test for Internet Business Associate is very easy. You get access to practice questions. I chose the "Reinforcement" option instead of the practice test option so that I could see all 400 and something questions in the test bank. The test questions are very similar to the test bank questions.

When you're a new member at DegreeInfo, they screen a certain number of your first posts. There isn't always a moderator available to approve them right away.

[Archer]

I have most of my questions answered, so thank you folks. I still want somebody to field this one however:

The other question I have is regarding quality of the actual courses at TESC vs. taking everything and transferring in, how are they? I've heard very mixed reviews but then you go onto ratemyprofessor and a lot of professors have positive marks, as far as I know TESC is almost exclusively online (outside the nursing program, right?) so how can the reviews of classes seem so mixed but the professors so well received?

AND,

is it actually faster in your collective experiences? Because there's some other traditional format programs online that operate on a traditional term/semester system, what appeals to me about TESC in particular is the ability to get an Associate's almost immediately and the idea that I might be able to push through a BSBA-CIS quite a bit faster than I would, say, Oregon Tech's BS in I.T.- Application Development program.

Once more, I really appreciate all of your time!

[Prloko]

Quality can be a subjective term, so it's difficult to give a fair assessment. I personally completed three TESC online courses. The courses themselves seem to be designed well, the issues you run in to is your fellow students and the responsiveness of your mentor. Like you stated, ratemyprofessor is a good source, I use it and convinced my spouse to do so also. You'll have some mentors who can be difficult, absentees, and you have some that are awesome. Ratemyprofessor helps avoid some, but there isnt a lot of data about TESC on there. I took a Math course and although I did learn, I didn't like the design of it. You had these short exams after each module and you were not given a lot of time to complete them, and using the text editor to enter formulas was time consuming. The weekly assignment which needed to be done on Word was a nightmare also; you ever try to show your work in Word? Ughh! And then the pointless discussion forum assignments..sigh.

I did enjoy the Strategic Management and my TQM courses very much.

Regarding your second question, faster is relative. Some members although moving more slowly prefer the flexibility of CBE, but they are beyond a few years. Others fly through it with, some finishing an entire Bachelor's in 12 months or less. It takes just a bit longer nowadays with the added requirements (like the capstone) which slow you down, but the speed of your completion is still almost entirely on you.

When I had gotten started, I brought in about 65 credits. Within 13 months I was done. A traditional school (or even another online school) while working full time would have taken me 2-4 years to finish. But regardless, in my signature block, you see my opinion on this matter. The most important thing is to get started and knock out credits.

Fun example: Look at this recent DFer's success. http://www.degreeforum.net/excelsior-tho...ation.html

[Archer]

That seals it, thank you everybody. I'll be applying for TESC/TESU (they'll be TESU by year's end if memory serves) Monday. Might start setting up those Edmonds Pace-It courses too. I'll report back if I get accepted, it seems this community is very helpful so I'll be around.

I know what you mean about time Prloko, Oregon Tech's program would take me a while to finish. In its favor is its a very well respected institution within the state and the fact that it's near me, so nobody would know it was an online degree. There's less people looking down at online degree completion programs these days though, so meh.

[Prloko]

That seals it, thank you everybody. I'll be applying for TESC/TESU (they'll be TESU by year's end if memory serves) Monday. Might start setting up those Edmonds Pace-It courses too. I'll report back if I get accepted, it seems this community is very helpful so I'll be around.

I know what you mean about time Prloko, Oregon Tech's program would take me a while to finish. In its favor is its a very well respected institution within the state and the fact that it's near me, so nobody would know it was an online degree. There's less people looking down at online degree completion programs these days though, so meh.

The prestige of the school matters less when you have experience. Plus, once you're done at TESC, you can get your grad degree at Oregon Tech or another great institution