Looking into language teaching related degrees

[rachel83az]

Thanks, this is perfect. Then it would make sense to go ahead and apply soon. Sending batches of courses every one to two months would leave my mind at ease regarding these last few questions. I didn't know you could send evaluations after enrolling, or that there isn't a limit.

Yup. Both TESU and SNHU allow this. WGU (not an option for international students) does not. UMPI and Excelsior both do, but with caveats for each one. (UMPI needs permission, Excelsior costs money.)

So in the event that I would have to wait a month or so for my transcripts to get legalized, sent, evaluated, etc., I'd still be able to take Sophia courses and send them in every month or two? I would of course avoid the ones that have a decent chance of being covered by one of my transcripts.

Yes, you can do this.

Which reminds me... Do you have a recent English TOEFL or IELTS score? If you don't, you'll either need to take an exam or complete 3 ASU Universal Learner courses (whichever is cheaper). https://www.tesu.edu/admissions/apply-in...al-student Could also do TEL Learning instead of ASU.

You could also try to convince them to accept the (much cheaper) DET, but it's unlikely that they'll be swayed. https://englishtest.duolingo.com/institutions/overview

[aperantosbias]

Thanks, this is perfect. Then it would make sense to go ahead and apply soon. Sending batches of courses every one to two months would leave my mind at ease regarding these last few questions. I didn't know you could send evaluations after enrolling, or that there isn't a limit.

Yup. Both TESU and SNHU allow this. WGU (not an option for international students) does not. UMPI and Excelsior both do, but with caveats for each one. (UMPI needs permission, Excelsior costs money.)

So in the event that I would have to wait a month or so for my transcripts to get legalized, sent, evaluated, etc., I'd still be able to take Sophia courses and send them in every month or two? I would of course avoid the ones that have a decent chance of being covered by one of my transcripts.

Yes, you can do this.

Which reminds me... Do you have a recent English TOEFL or IELTS score? If you don't, you'll either need to take an exam or complete 3 ASU Universal Learner courses (whichever is cheaper). https://www.tesu.edu/admissions/apply-in...al-student Could also do TEL Learning instead of ASU.

You could also try to convince them to accept the (much cheaper) DET, but it's unlikely that they'll be swayed. https://englishtest.duolingo.com/institutions/overview

Awesome, thanks. I think I just about have things figured out; enough to be able to get crackin'. I didn't mention the English proficiency requirements because I doubt I'll be required to submit exam results (US citizen).

[rachel83az]

If you apply to TESU now, it appears you may be able to get access to up to 5 TECEPs for free. These don't count for TESU residency, but they are RA credit and some of them are pretty easy: https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...ilable-Now

It's also completely possible that you won't be able to register for free because you're not already a student, but the only way to find out would be to try. I would register for the 1-credit TECEP to see if you get charged for that. If you don't get charged, pick 4 more TECEPs to try to take. If you do get charged, oh well. Don't bother with the others.

Clarification: whether you get charged for it or not, do NOT take the 1-credit Medical Terminology TECEP. Just pay for it and ignore it.

[dfrecore]

At any time, TESU can change what they accept a course as. However, unless you've already finished it and transferred it in, the promise of an advisor doesn't mean that much.

This is why we advise TESU students to become fully enrolled ASAP by spending $52 on the Medical Terminology TECEP (but NOT taking it). Paying for the TECEP unlocks full enrollment, which means unlimited transcript evaluations. As long as you send in your newly completed courses every month or two, you'll be pretty well-insulated against any changes that TESU might make.

Thanks, this is perfect. Then it would make sense to go ahead and apply soon. Sending batches of courses every one to two months would leave my mind at ease regarding these last few questions. I didn't know you could send evaluations after enrolling, or that there isn't a limit. So in the event that I would have to wait a month or so for my transcripts to get legalized, sent, evaluated, etc., I'd still be able to take Sophia courses and send them in every month or two? I would of course avoid the ones that have a decent chance of being covered by one of my transcripts.

WGU does not allow for any transfers once you're enrolled, but everyone else does.  Some caveats:

Excelsior now charges $300 for each eval after the first one, so it's recommended to take all 113cr (and possibly a few more just in case) and send in ALL transcripts prior to getting your eval from them.

UMPI requires permission before taking outside coursework, and though they seem flexible now, I would advise that people take all courses and send them in prior to enrollment, because you never know when they will change their policy.

TESU allows for unlimited evals once you become enrolled.  And, from 10+ years of experience with them, once you get a course equivalency that you're happy with (either because they did it right or because you appealed it) and once they put a course on your eval, and you have it where you want (either because it's where they put it or you requested that it go there), it's basically locked in - even if they change equivalencies going forward, they won't mess with your eval.

[aperantosbias]

If you apply to TESU now, it appears you may be able to get access to up to 5 TECEPs for free. These don't count for TESU residency, but they are RA credit and some of them are pretty easy: https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...ilable-Now

It's also completely possible that you won't be able to register for free because you're not already a student, but the only way to find out would be to try. I would register for the 1-credit TECEP to see if you get charged for that. If you don't get charged, pick 4 more TECEPs to try to take. If you do get charged, oh well. Don't bother with the others.

Clarification: whether you get charged for it or not, do NOT take the 1-credit Medical Terminology TECEP. Just pay for it and ignore it.

Oh wow. The wording does imply current it's for students but who knows. I might be able to confirm this for everyone, given the timing.

I'll burn "pay for MT TECEP and don't take/ignore it" into my mind.


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dfrecore

WGU does not allow for any transfers once you're enrolled, but everyone else does.  Some caveats:

Excelsior now charges $300 for each eval after the first one, so it's recommended to take all 113cr (and possibly a few more just in case) and send in ALL transcripts prior to getting your eval from them.

UMPI requires permission before taking outside coursework, and though they seem flexible now, I would advise that people take all courses and send them in prior to enrollment, because you never know when they will change their policy.

TESU allows for unlimited evals once you become enrolled.  And, from 10+ years of experience with them, once you get a course equivalency that you're happy with (either because they did it right or because you appealed it) and once they put a course on your eval, and you have it where you want (either because it's where they put it or you requested that it go there), it's basically locked in - even if they change equivalencies going forward, they won't mess with your eval.
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Thanks for confirming that post-eval coursework basically gets locked in regardless of equivalency changes. I couldn't get the copy-paste to put your reply in quotes hence the forward slashes.

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To whom this may concern: I emailed SpanTran and they said to send photocopies of scanned documents (signed w/ university stamp). You can get them translated beforehand by a certified translator (this should be considerably cheaper here but YMMV). Otherwise, they offer a translation service after the fact (after they receive the transcripts). They then offer options for evaluation services, also after the fact.

[aperantosbias]

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Hey everyone. Thanks so much for all the help, I was able to move forward with everything. I bumped this thread because my current situation stems from where it left off.

I decided to go ahead and do a BA in English at TESU.

-I was able to acquire my transcripts. In total, I have seven completed (international) university courses that I will be sending in for evaluation. I have them scanned and ready to send.
*I won't list the subjects because some of them are somewhat unconventional by US standards, so I'll let the evaluation company and TESU handle equivalencies.
-I applied at TESU a few days ago. I haven't received a confirmation email or anything yet so I don't think I can register for the Medical Terminology TECEP quite yet.
-I have completed three courses on Sophia.org:
US History 1 (3 credits)
Microeconomics (3 credits)
Visual Communications (3 credits)

Going by the wiki(s), these should probably be accepted by TESU. I can't seem to find [COM-231 Two-Dimensional Design] on the GE course list for TESU, so I don't know about Visual Communications unless I'm missing something.

In any case, I will continue to complete Sophia courses until/while my transcripts are evaluated. I'm waiting for TESU to respond and activate my account to enroll and evaluate and send them along to TESU.

My question is: should I go ahead and send my Sophia transcript while my university transcripts are being evaluated, or is it advisable to send RA credit in before stacking ACE credit?

Also, I have a good amount of info from the wikis but I haven't really completed that part of my degree plan yet. It seems a bit tricky without knowing for sure how equivalencies from Sophia will pan out.

I guess I'm stumped because I can't find some of the TESU courses with Sophia equivalencies on the GE course list on the TESU site. Maybe they are electives or something, or gone; I really don't know.

The wiki roadmap for BA English at TESU is useful, and a previous commenter left a great roadmap of courses and providers for several of the important courses that Sophia won't cover, so the mystery for me mostly revolves around planning Sophia credits. If anyone can provide any tips regarding getting a cleaner Sophia credit plan in place, that would be helpful at this stage. For the time being, I'm mostly hand-picking them and trying to avoid courses that my uni transcripts might fill.

[rachel83az]

A lot of transfers into TESU are for classes that TESU themselves don't teach. That's fine. They'll still meet degree requirements. Make sure you're checking both https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Sa...ts_Roadmap and https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/So...lency_List Visual Communications is accepted and it counts as a Humanities course for the gen eds. Don't bother to check the TESU site for most of this. It won't help.

I would wait to send in your Sophia transcript(s) until you are an enrolled student. An applicant student only gets two transcript evaluations. An enrolled student gets unlimited evaluations. Once you are an enrolled student, send in your Sophia transcripts every 6-8 weeks or so.

[bjcheung77]

TESU allows for max transfer of credits, most of the degrees they have, credits need to be transferred through third party providers or institutions. Courses transferred would be equivalent to requirements needed for the degree, TESU would have 'names' for these that aren't in the course catalog as they're not internal courses, it's all transferred in. I would get the WIKI plans and review what requirements are for the degree and make your own customized spreadsheet using the WIKI and forum for reference purposes...

[aperantosbias]

A lot of transfers into TESU are for classes that TESU themselves don't teach. That's fine. They'll still meet degree requirements. Make sure you're checking both https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Sa...ts_Roadmap and https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/So...lency_List Visual Communications is accepted and it counts as a Humanities course for the gen eds. Don't bother to check the TESU site for most of this. It won't help.

I would wait to send in your Sophia transcript(s) until you are an enrolled student. An applicant student only gets two transcript evaluations. An enrolled student gets unlimited evaluations. Once you are an enrolled student, send in your Sophia transcripts every 6-8 weeks or so.

That makes sense and clarifies everything. I'll stick to the wikis. 

I can now flesh out my degree plan to include a path through Sophia coursework. I will make sure to take multiple-touchstone courses in tandem with no/low touchstone courses.

I am planning to wait until enrolling to send my transcripts. It'll then take a week or three for my uni transcripts to finally reach TESU, so I was wondering whether I should go ahead and sent my Sophia transcript in as soon as I enroll or wait until my uni courses go through. Maybe there's no real difference; just thought I'd ask if there is a standard order for RA vs. ACE.

TESU allows for max transfer of credits, most of the degrees they have, credits need to be transferred through third party providers or institutions.  Courses transferred would be equivalent to requirements needed for the degree, TESU would have 'names' for these that aren't in the course catalog as they're not internal courses, it's all transferred in.  I would get the WIKI plans and review what requirements are for the degree and make your own customized spreadsheet using the WIKI and forum for reference purposes...

 
Cool, that makes things a lot more straightforward. I will work on a spreadsheet now that my doubts are cleared.
Thank you both for helping me understand how TESU determines and places coursework from other providers.