Please Help!! with Degree Plan

[smile23]

Hi,


I have been reading the different threads and I was wondering if someone can give me some advice how to put together the best degree plan.I am currently enrolled in TESU (I am open to change if that makes the most sense) I am just a little overwhelmed because most my courses are foreign credits and I am not sure how they will transfer so here it goes.


Location: NJ, United States
Age: 20
Degree Type: I want either a liberal arts degree or something business related


Foreign credits = 45 
REL263 / 0005 Studies in the Book of Deuteronomy -3 
REL264 / 0006 Studies in the Book of Exodus -3
PHI200 / 0041 Introduction to Topics Philosophy -3
REL356 / 0051 Studies in Megillot -3
REL338 / 0054 Midrashic and Aggadic Literature -3
PHI374 / 0059 Philosophical & Theological Foundations of Pray -3
REL239 / 0087 Studies in the Book of Kings I & II - 3 
REL207 / 0088 Studies in the Book of Samuel II - 3 
REL244 / 0137 Survey of Biblical Themes - 3 
REL296 / 2047 Topics from the Haftarot -3
REL295 / 2050 Women in the Bible I -3 
REL285 / 5008 Studies in Mussar 3 A-
REL206 / 5077 Studies in Law: Laws of Shabbat I - 3 
REL210 / 6322 The Home in Traditional Sources I -3 
PHI350 / 6350 Principles of Faith & their Biblical Origin- 3


Tecep = 6
COM-2100-TE100 - Public Relat. Thought & Pract -3 
BIO-2080-TE100 -The Science of Nutrition -3


Coopersmith = 6
MAT 101 College Algebra -3
PSY 101 Introduction to Psychology -3
Budget: 4-5k I can’t really spend a lot, I want to utilize all the free option of credits like onlinedegree.com, modern states for cleps. I also signed up for an american dream academy account and would want to get a google certificate for credits. I was thinking of doing 1 term in TESU for flat tuition rate (in-state tuition) and do 16 credits at once. Does anyone have any thoughts opinions or experience with that??  
Commitments: I currently work full time and can work on my studies part time or in the evenings/weekends.
Dedicated time to study: I can study as much as is needed during the night or weekends as long as my schedule is free. I estimate about 15-20 hours a week. I am willing to put in all the work needed
Timeline: Finishing the courses required for the degree as fast as possible would be ideal.  I would like to finish within 1 year
Thank you for all your help!!

[bjcheung77]

@smile23, Welcome to the board! Where are you from? That's a nice addendum and template! Just wondering, are those the foreign equivalents that TESU have provided you? If so, those 300's are UL, and you have 12 UL credits already, you just need to get two more upper level courses to hit the 18 for the AOS.  I would skip the Onlinedegree and CLEP/MS for an easier/faster option, You just need your general education options completed with Sophia.org for a 1 month membership with coupon at $79/month non proctored, make sure to use an extra monitor for multitasking.

For your remaining Upper Level at $60 both (BOGO): You should take two classes at LawShelf.com, https://lawshelf.com/assets/pdf/TESU.pdf
Lawshelf GOV-202 Basics of Environmental Law should transfer as TESU ENS-360 Environ Sustainability & Social Justice
Lawshelf LIT-401 E-Discovery should transfer as TESU LIS-314 Electronic Information Retrieval Systems
Remaining General Education and Liberal Studies Link: https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Sa...ts_Roadmap

[rachel83az]

It's cheap, but I don't know if I'd recommend LawShelf unless you're actually interested in Law. Not everyone is, and that's okay.

Courses from Coopersmith are $150 each, and Study.com is about $200/mo. for 2 exams per month. Study.com has a ton of (IMO) more interesting UL credits available. There are some suggestions here: https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Sa...egree_Plan

I think you'll definitely want/need Study.com for at least the following:

• Presentation Skills in the Workplace - This replaces Sophia's Public Speaking. Sophia's Public Speaking can take a couple of months on its own, which winds up costing more money than just taking it at Study.com
  
• If you somehow don't pass the CLEP for this, English Composition - English Comp I usually isn't too bad at Sophia, but English Comp II literally takes 3-4 months to for some students to complete. Definitely try the CLEP first.
  

Good news about the flat-rate term: you only need 15 credits, not 16, to not need to pay the residency waiver. It's actually not that bad, if you plan ahead. There are some suggestions here based on past experiences: https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Th...timization For you, I would probably suggest...

• Cornerstone
  
• Capstone
  
• LIB-3200 The Music of War & Peace
  
• PHI-1300 Introduction to Critical Reasoning
  
• Easy ePack or ART-1000
  

If you did LIB-3200, you would only need one more UL course from either Study.com or Coopersmith (or do the LawShelf classes if you like that option).

---

With all that out of the way, if you'd prefer a Business degree to a Liberal Studies degree, it's possible with UMPI. At your age, I think that a subject degree (business) is going to help you way more than a generic Liberal Studies degree. UMPI will have you writing multiple short(er) papers/projects, compared to TESU's one final capstone paper. Some people prefer to write long, others prefer to write short. It's up to you.

For UMPI, you'd need to follow the plans on the wiki to maximize transfers and lower cost. Follow https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/UM...quirements to meet GEC (General Education) requirements, then pick one of their 5 available BABA degrees: https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Category:UMPI

Your current credits will mostly go into electives and you might "lose" some, but UMPI could still wind up being faster and cheaper than TESU.

UMPI = 2 or 3 months of Sophia.org for $99/mo. Plus 1-3 sessions at UMPI (2-6 months) for $1500-$4500.

[smile23]

thank you @bjcheung77 and @rachel83az for all your help!

These are not the the foreign equivalents that TESU gave me and didn't transfer the credits yet. How do you think they will transfer?
Doing those LawShelf courses will help me with a liberal arts degree? This might sound like a stupid question what is AOS? for my last question is TESU vs UMPI what is considered a better degree?

thank in advance

[rachel83az]

thank you @bjcheung77 and @rachel83az for all your help!

These are not the the foreign equivalents that TESU gave me and didn't transfer the credits yet. How do you think they will transfer?

Did you have them evaluated by ACEI, WES, ECE, etc. yet? If so, your best option would be to send them to TESU to see what they say. Religion courses are Liberal Studies, though, and if you've got UL ones already then that's good.

Doing those LawShelf courses will help me with a liberal arts degree?

Those ones, yes. LIS and ENS should count as Liberal Studies subjects.

This might sound like a stupid question what is AOS?

At some universities, they're classes within the Major. TESU just calls them AOS.

for my last question is TESU vs UMPI what is considered a better degree?

TESU and UMPI are about equal as far as schools go. UMPI might be considered "better" by some because it's obviously a state university and is part of the University of Maine system, which sounds better to some. TESU, on the other hand, is a bit of a weird name. It's not immediately obvious to which state it belongs. It doesn't mean that it's bad or that it's worse than UMPI. It's fine.

For the degrees themselves: subject degrees are generally better than Liberal Studies degrees. There are few areas where a Liberal Studies degree will triumph over a degree in a subject like Business or History or whatever. Liberal Studies is a check-the-box degree. Business, English, History, etc. showed that you studied something specific and so seem better to most people.

Actually, with so many Religion classes, you might be able to get a BA Religion from TESU. https://tesu.smartcatalogiq.com/current/.../religion/ I forgot they have that. That could be a good option that's not Liberal Studies.

It looks like the DSST Introduction to World Religions would cover the same requirement as "World Religions: Exploring Diversity" at TESU. They're looking for any World or Comparative Religions class.

It's also possible that one of your existing Philosophy classes will cover the Philosophy of Religion requirement. You might still need to take it from TESU, though, as part of a 15-credit term.

[smile23]

it looks like I will maximize my credit transfer with liberal arts degree?

---

Do you know if the Google certificate in Project management if it will count as UL's?

https://www.acenet.edu/National-Guide/Pa...0d3a363c81

[rachel83az]

If you can do a BA Religion, that should maximize your credits at least as much as Liberal Studies. Perhaps even more so.

A UMPI BABA degree might "lose" some credits, but it'd still probably be faster and cheaper to complete than a TESU degree - even though you're in NJ.

As for your Google Certificate, MAN courses usually don't count for Liberal Studies. I'm almost positive that Project Management doesn't count. However, at TESU, this certificate is worth 6 UL credits + 3 LL ones. https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Coursera These credits just won't count toward the AOS of a Liberal Studies degree.

[jg_nuy]

If you can do a BA Religion, that should maximize your credits at least as much as Liberal Studies. Perhaps even more so.

A UMPI BABA degree might "lose" some credits, but it'd still probably be faster and cheaper to complete than a TESU degree - even though you're in NJ.

As for your Google Certificate, MAN courses usually don't count for Liberal Studies. I'm almost positive that Project Management doesn't count. However, at TESU, this certificate is worth 6 UL credits + 3 LL ones. https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Coursera These credits just won't count toward the AOS of a Liberal Studies degree.

I can confirm that Google PM is not AOS for Liberal Studies. It went into free electives when submitted for that program.

[bjcheung77]

@OP, For now... I would wait for an evaluation and see what credits you have remaining for your TESU degree, you can decide to stay with TESU at $3319 the flat rate, or try to save the few hundred by doing a couple sessions at UMPI for $3K, you still need to make sure to max the transfer credits at either institution with the ACE recommendations we have.

It really depends on how you do things, if you go the TESU route, it'll be cheaper if you decide to go for a second degree as you just pay for a capstone/grad fee and any newer transfer credits (ACE credits). I would do a search for $3319 and review posts that I've mentioned for individuals looking at UMPI vs TESU and particular reasons to go with either...