TESC BA Psych Degree Plan NEWBIE

[hudspithk]

I just found out about these alternative college credits two days ago. I've gone to a 4 year university before and a community college but never did well balancing work and classes. I've read and read as much information as I could from this forum and decided to start studying and taking exams. I just finished my degree plan (finally) and I was hoping some of you guys could look over it and let me know if I need to change anything or if something wont work or if there's just a simpler option. Thank you so much for any help you can give !


I. General Education Requirements:
A. English Composition-6
CLEP- English Composition – ENG101/102-CE (6)
B. Humanities-12
CLEP- Principles of Public Speaking – COM209 (3)
CLEP- Technical Writing – ENG201-DE (3)
CLEP- English Lit – LIT208/209-CE (6)
C. Social Sciences- 12
CLEP- Intro to Sociology – SOC101 (3)
CLEP- Lifespan Developmental Psychology – PSY211-DE (3)
DSST- General Anthropology – ANT101 (3)
TECEP- Marriage & the Family– SOC210 (3)
D. Natural Science & Mathematics- 12
ALEKS- College Algebra – MAT121 (3)
CLEP- Biology – BIO101/102 (6)
CLEP- Information Systems & Computer Science – COS101 (3)
E. General Education Electives- 18
CLEP- Humanities – HUM101/102 (6)
CLEP- Spanish (Level 1) – SPA101/102 (6)
CLEP- Natural Sciences – NAS101/102 (6)
II. Area of Study: Psychology- 33
A. Required Courses
CLEP- Intro to Psych – PSY101 (3)
ALEKS- Intro to Stats for Behavioral Science – STA201 (3)
TESC Class- Research in Experimental Psychology – PSY 322 (3)
B. Capstone
TESC Class- Liberal Arts Capstone – LIB495 (3)
C. Psychology Electives
CLEP- Intro to Educational Psychology- PSY230 (3)
TECEP- Psychology of Women – PSY270 (3)
DSST- Fundamentals of Counseling – PSY331 (3)
DSST- Organizational Behavior – PSY 361 (3)
DSST- Substance Abuse – SOC305 (3)
TESC Class- Social Psychology – PSY379 (6)
III. Free Electives
A. FEMA - (27)

[sanantone]

I recommend taking the Intro to Computing DSST over the Information Systems and Computer Applications CLEP. They are both transcribed as the same course, but the former is easier than the latter. I would also recommend that you move Lifespan Developmental Psychology to the area of study and avoid taking the Psychology of Women TECEP. You can find another easy CLEP/DSST to fulfill your social science requirements. Unless you really want to take a few TESC classes for a GPA or financial aid purposes, there are ways to avoid taking any TESC classes besides the capstone. There are a few ECEs (Excelsior College Exams) you can take: Abnormal Psychology, Social Psychology, Research Methods in Psychology, and Psychology of Adulthood and Aging. You should think about dropping the Marriage and Family TECEP too unless you really want to take it.

[AlbaTiVo]

Do you have any credits from you previous times at college that could be used too?

[hudspithk]

Okay Sanantone, here is my degree plan revised with your advice

I. General Education Requirements:
A. English Composition-6
CLEP- English Composition – ENG101/102-CE (6)
B. Humanities-12
CLEP- Principles of Public Speaking – COM209 (3)
CLEP- Technical Writing – ENG201-DE (3)
CLEP- English Lit – LIT208/209-CE (6)
C. Social Sciences- 12
CLEP- Intro to Sociology – SOC101 (3)
CLEP- Principles of Microeconomics – ECO112 (3)
DSST- General Anthropology – ANT101 (3)
TECEP- Marriage & the Family– SOC210 (3)
D. Natural Science & Mathematics- 12
ALEKS- College Algebra – MAT121 (3)
CLEP- Biology – BIO101/102 (6)
DSST- Intro to Computing – COS101 (3)
E. General Education Electives- 18
CLEP- Humanities – HUM101/102 (6)
CLEP- Spanish (Level 1) – SPA101/102 (6)
CLEP- Natural Sciences – NAS101/102 (6)
II. Area of Study: Psychology- 33
A. Required Courses
CLEP- Intro to Psych – PSY101 (3)
ALEKS- Intro to Stats for Behavioral Science – STA201 (3)
TESC Class- Research in Experimental Psychology – PSY 322 (3)
B. Capstone
TESC Class- Liberal Arts Capstone – LIB495 (3)
C. Psychology Electives
CLEP- Intro to Educational Psychology- PSY230 (3)
CLEP- Lifespan Developmental Psychology – PSY211-DE (3)
DSST- Fundamentals of Counseling – PSY331 (3)
DSST- Organizational Behavior – PSY 361 (3)
DSST- Substance Abuse – SOC305 (3)
TESC Class- Social Psychology – PSY379 (6)
III. Free Electives
A. FEMA - (27)

I do want to have a couple TESC classes for GPA and financial aid purposes. Is there a reason you recommend not taking TECEP exams? Are they harder? I considered ECE but after I saw the price was so much higher I opted out..


AlbaTivo- I have a few credits from college that I could use I believe. I have ENG101 but it's only a 3 credit class and I need 6.. Is there an ENG102 I could take that's 3 hrs? I think I also have a sociology class called Social problems. I didn't know where that would fit in.. I also have a business class, Personal Development. Any ideas if any of those would be accepted?

Thank you guys so much for your help !

[sanantone]

TECEPs are harder than CLEP/DSST. ECEs are also harder, but they're an option if you want to reduce the number of TESC courses. Some ECEs are $95, but I can't remember which ones. The Marriage and Family TECEP could be replaced with the Intro to Law Enforcement or Intro to Criminal Justice DSST. I heard those are easy. They are listed as human services courses, but they are transcribed as social sciences much like Fundamentals of Counseling. The Analyzing and Interpreting Literature CLEP is an easy way to get 6 humanities credits. It's probably the easiest humanities test out there. Social Problems could probably be used in general education as a social science. Personal Development could probably be used as a free elective.

[spender2000]

I don't know what the "CE" stands for after ENG101/102, but in case you didn't know (as I found out a few months ago) TESC requires the essay for the College Composition CLEP. You probably already knew that, but I'm telling you just in case because I'd hate to see anyone waste their time the way I did! I was the dolt who took Freshman English in CC, then the College Comp CLEP without the essay, and now I STILL have to take Eng 102. So, another $100 down the drain...

If it were me, I'd make the following changes: Since you already took and passed College Algebra through ALEKS, burn through Intermediate Algebra through ALEKS to get an easy 3 general elective credits ($20, versus the CLEP fees). I'd also take A&I CLEP, it's the easiest of all the CLEPs and it's worth 6 credits, and it would be one test instead of both COM209 and ENG201. If possible, maybe study up on your Spanish? If you're comfortable enough you could get 12 credits out of that Spanish test. For Social Sciences, have you looked into taking the Social Science and History CLEP? It would be transcribed as Soc 101/102, so that would only be helpful if you haven't already taken Intro Soc (TESC may apply your Social Problems course as Soc 101). TESC will probably use all your previous courses, with the exception of Eng 101 if you are taking the CLEP. Personal Development might be applied to your social studies requirement (I'd ask your advisor) and Business will be general ed.

[hudspithk]

Revised :


I. General Education Requirements:
A. English Composition-6
CLEP- English Composition – ENG101/102-CE (6)
B. Humanities-12
CLEP- English Literature – LIT208/209 (6)
CLEP- Analyzing & Interpreting Literature – LIT291/292 (6)
C. Social Sciences- 12
CLEP- Social Science & History – SOC101/102 (6)
DSST- General Anthropology – ANT101 (3)
DSST- Criminal Justice – AOJ102 (3) (Transcribed as SOC)
D. Natural Science & Mathematics- 12
ALEKS- College Algebra – MAT121 (3)
CLEP- Biology – BIO101/102 (6)
DSST- Intro to Computing – COS101 (3)
E. General Education Electives- 18
CLEP- Humanities – HUM101/102 (6)
CLEP- Spanish (Level 1) – SPA101/102 (6)
CLEP- Natural Sciences – NAS101/102 (6)
II. Area of Study: Psychology- 33
A. Required Courses
CLEP- Intro to Psych – PSY101 (3)
ALEKS- Intro to Stats for Behavioral Science – STA201 (3)
TESC Class- Research in Experimental Psychology – PSY 322 (3)
B. Capstone
TESC Class- Liberal Arts Capstone – LIB495 (3)
C. Psychology Electives
CLEP- Intro to Educational Psychology- PSY230 (3)
CLEP- Lifespan Developmental Psychology – PSY211-DE (3)
DSST- Fundamentals of Counseling – PSY331 (3)
DSST- Organizational Behavior – PSY 361 (3)
DSST- Substance Abuse – SOC305 (3)
TESC Class- Social Psychology – PSY379 (6)
III. Free Electives
A. FEMA - (27)



I traded in a few of my 3 credit courses for 6 credit ones as you all advised. I'm not sure why I didn't already think of this.. I'm a little unsure of how I should handle my English requirements since I've already taken ENG 101 at CC. How do you recommend I get my 6 credits in English ?

[AlbaTiVo]

I think the CLEP English Composition will be your best bet as taking ENG102 through Straighterline will take more time and money. I think your business class and personal development class will both be free electives, so you can knock your FEMAs down to just 21 - assuming they are 3 credits classes. Your social problems class I think will be Social Sciences, so you can bump 3 credits from that. Also, as spender2000 pointed out you can take more ALEKS classes. You could take Intermediate Algebra and Trigonometry or Precalculus (not both as they duplicate), and for $20/month knock off another 6 credits from your Natural Sciences/Mathematics or General Electives.

[spender2000]

You could do the College Comp with essay (which negates your Eng 101 course, but who cares if you get the requirement done). It will be approximately $75 for 6 credits. Or you can take the TECEP Eng 102, which is $99 and if you still have financial aid money they have dispursed yet, you can use that to cover the fee. I'm taking the TECEP, because the closest CLEP center is so far away the gas alone will make it more expensive than the TECEP (which I can take around the corner). I've already taken Eng 101.