TESC Rookie Questions

[EvanK]

Hello.

I have received my evaluation from TESC yesterday and it seems that the number of credits I will have to take from TESC (meaning I cannot test out for those) is 24 (8 courses). I will have to test out for 69. I am aiming for BA in Economics.

I am planning to earn 3 test credits a week.

I have some very basic questions regarding mostly the courses I decide to take through TESC:

1. How are TESC online classes conducted? Is it mostly just about reading a textbook and memorizing it?

2. I assume that there are "final exams" that I would have to take at the end of each course. Is that so? How do I take an exam if I live outside of NJ? What is the process?

3. The most important question. Is there any time limitations on how quick I can finish TESC courses? Is it completely up to me? As I mentioned above, there are 8 classes I will probably take with TESC, so I'd like to do it as quick as possible.

4. Do I have to pay the full tuition at once?

[sanantone]

TESC only offers 3 economics courses: Microeconomics, Macroeconomics, and International Economics. You can test out of the first two, so that only leaves International Economics. There is a DSST for Money and Banking and a CSU Global competency exam for Managerial Economics. The rest of the requirements will have to be taken somewhere else.

1. TESC's online courses require discussion board courses and a lot of writing. The guided study courses are the same without the discussion boards.
2. Exams are taken with an online proctor with a webcam, ProctorU.
3. TESC has 12-week terms. In the guided study courses, it is up to your mentor whether or not you can work ahead, but you won't be officially finished until the 12 weeks are up. Otherwise, you have to adhere to deadlines and assignment openings.
4. Are you using financial aid? TESC does not have payment plans. The Per Credit Plan allows you to take and pay for courses individually, but the tuition rate shoots up to $476 per credit. It really doesn't matter since you'll only be taking International Economics and the Liberal Arts Capstone there anyway. The Comprehensive Tuition Plan will not be a reasonable option for you. That leaves you with the Per Credit Tuition Plan in which you can make cheaper by meeting the residency requirements through TECEPs (still $36 per credit under this plan) or the Enrolled Options Plan that has an over $3,000 enrollment fee and charge of $229 per credit.

[EvanK]

Thank you for your response.

More questions, mostly in regard to TESC academic evaluation/degree requirements:

I am trying to test out of all the subjects that will fit in my degree before enrolling.

1. There is a "Reponsibility" requirement in my degree:

B: Responsiblity (Not Started)
> Complete 9 semester hours (SH) in Personal and Social
> Responsibility coursework to include:
> *Diversity or Global Literacy, 3SH
> *Responsible Ethical Leadership, 3SH
> *Elective, 3SH
Semester Hours Completed: 0.00
Diversity or Global Literacy (Not Started)
_____________________________________________________________________ 3 credits
Responsible Ethical Leadership (Not Started)
_____________________________________________________________________ 3 credits
Personal and Social Responsibility Elective (Not Started)
_____________________________________________________________________ 3 credits

What CLEPs/DSSTs fit in this category?

2. How does TESC distinguish between General Ed Electives and BA Free Electives? Generally, how do I know which CLEP/DSST subjects go where?

3. Another question from my evaluation:

BA General Education (60 SH)
Semester Hours Completed: 27.75
Complete all 4 subrequirements:
A: Intellectual Skills (In Progress)
> Complete 15 semester hours (SH) of Intellecutal and
> Practical Skills coursework, to include:
> *English Composition I, 3SH with grade of C or better
> *English Composition II (Writing Intensive), 3SH with grade
> of C or better
> *Statistics, 3SH
> *Computer Science, 3SH
> *Intellectual and Practical Skills Electives, 3SH
Semester Hours Completed: 7.00
ENC-101 (Not Started)
_____________________________________________________________________ 3 credits
ENC-102 (Writing Intensive) (Not Started)
_____________________________________________________________________ 3 credits
Statistics (Completed)
Src Course # Title S.H. Grd TESC #
1.. STA201 Statistics............... 3.50 CR STA-201
Computer Science (Completed)
Src Course # Title S.H. Grd TESC #
1.. COS199 Computer Science......... 3.50 CR COS-199
Intellectual and Practical Skills (Not Started)
!! Exception
extra credit in Statistics & Computers applied
needs 2 sh

_____________________________________________________________________ 2 credits
Src Course # Title S.H. Grd TESC # Notes

Are the 2 semester hours needed in Statistics & Computers, or Intellectual Skills Electives? Can I satisfy this requirement through a Computer Science CLEP?

[ironheadjack]

1) The responsibility requirements have been discussed many times, a quick search of the forum will bring up a lot of results.

2) General Ed courses are humanities, social sciences, science, math. Most of your core courses are considered gen eds. (Except business courses which only fit into business degrees) Free credits are pretty much any course that the college will give you credit for, they will fall into "free credits".

3) From your evaluation it says Statistics and Computer Science are complete, but I&P skills are not complete since they transferred 1 extra credit into that area. You may be able to find a 2 credit course for I&P skills but it will probably be easier in the long run to fill it in with a 3 credit course.


Review the following links for responsibility courses and which CLEP/DSST tests are gen eds.

General Education Courses

DANTES
CLEP - College-Level Exam Program

[EvanK]

Ok more questions:

1.Will DSST Management Information Systems fit in that "Intellectual and Practical Skills Electives" category, even though I already have credit awarded for Computer Science?

2.So most CLEP/DSST exam credits that fit into categories you described (humanities, soc. science, math, etc) will automatically go into General Ed electives. Once the General Ed Section is completed on the transcript, more credits will go to BA Free Electives, correct?

3. I noticed in the evaluation in the "Area of Study" section it says "GPA Achieved/Needed: none/2.000". Does that mean that I am required to have a GPA (take at least one area of study course at TESC) in my area of study in order to graduate?

My area of study is Economics and TESC only offers Macroeconomics, Microeconomics and International Economics courses. I can test out of the first two and I had International Economics credit transferred from another institution. I really want to major in Economics.

4.The only course I planned on completing at TESC is "Liberal arts Capstone". If it's an option, will the grade I receive for that course basically be my GPA?

5. On TESC website it states, "Undergraduate students must have an overall TESC GPA, an English Composition GPA and an area of study/option GPA of 2.0 or higher." I took CLEP College composition. How is it graded by TESC?

[Westerner]

2. Correct

3./4. Yes. If you just take the Capstone with TESC, then that'll be your total TESC GPA.

5. CLEP College Comp is graded pass/fail. If you passed, you get the 6 credits.

[Prloko]

Hello.

I have received my evaluation from TESC yesterday and it seems that the number of credits I will have to take from TESC (meaning I cannot test out for those) is 24 (8 courses). I will have to test out for 69. I am aiming for BA in Economics.

TECEPs count towards the residency requirement. If you are not aware of TECEPs yet, they are CBEs offered by the College somewhat similar to CLEP/DSSTs, but more like a college challenge exam. The cost of a TECEP is in the $100 range (a few bucks more or less depending on residency), and you register for them like a regular course.

You also have 12 weeks to take the exam just like a course except you can take it any time during that 12 week span. The college officially states they will mail the exam during the middle of that time period (I think I recall wk 5 or 6), but I was able to get them to send it out the first week. This has now changed for most of the TECEPs as now many of them are web based and proctored online through ProctorU meaning you can take them at a library or at home, but not all of them are available in this format as of yet.

The exam formats vary depending on the specific exam, the one I took, Operations Management, was 100 multiple choice questions (like a CLEP), but others are essay based or a combination of both. This is much cheaper and possibly faster (if you take them before wk 12) than taking courses. They are pass/fail (actually CR/ No CR) and only show up on your transcript if you pass, so no GPA risk.

Speak with an advisor on which exams qualify for your degree program, or maybe some of the members on this forum will be willing to help also. I higly recommend using as many TECEPs as possible to fill the 24 credit residency.

Good luck.

[Prloko]

Thank you for your response.

BA General Education (60 SH)
Semester Hours Completed: 27.75
Complete all 4 subrequirements:
A: Intellectual Skills (In Progress)
> Complete 15 semester hours (SH) of Intellecutal and
> Practical Skills coursework, to include:
> *English Composition I, 3SH with grade of C or better
> *English Composition II (Writing Intensive), 3SH with grade
> of C or better
> *Statistics, 3SH
> *Computer Science, 3SH
> *Intellectual and Practical Skills Electives, 3SH
Semester Hours Completed: 7.00
ENC-101 (Not Started)
_____________________________________________________________________ 3 credits
ENC-102 (Writing Intensive) (Not Started)
_____________________________________________________________________ 3 credits

These two English Comp classes can be completed using the English Comp I and II TECEPs, will cost about $200 for both exams, and will knock out 6 credits for your residency requirement.

[EvanK]

TECEPs count towards the residency requirement. If you are not aware of TECEPs yet, they are CBEs offered by the College somewhat similar to CLEP/DSSTs, but more like a college challenge exam. The cost of a TECEP is in the $100 range (a few bucks more or less depending on residency), and you register for them like a regular course.

You also have 12 weeks to take the exam just like a course except you can take it any time during that 12 week span. The college officially states they will mail the exam during the middle of that time period (I think I recall wk 5 or 6), but I was able to get them to send it out the first week. This has now changed for most of the TECEPs as now many of them are web based and proctored online through ProctorU meaning you can take them at a library or at home, but not all of them are available in this format as of yet.

The exam formats vary depending on the specific exam, the one I took, Operations Management, was 100 multiple choice questions (like a CLEP), but others are essay based or a combination of both. This is much cheaper and possibly faster (if you take them before wk 12) than taking courses. They are pass/fail (actually CR/ No CR) and only show up on your transcript if you pass, so no GPA risk.

Speak with an advisor on which exams qualify for your degree program, or maybe some of the members on this forum will be willing to help also. I higly recommend using as many TECEPs as possible to fill the 24 credit residency.

Good luck.

So I cannot simply test out of everything and transfer the remaining 24 credits from a regionally accredited institution? Am I required to take TECEP/TESC courses?

The only reason I couldn't test out of the 24 credits I mentioned earlier is because there is nether a CLEP/DSST exam nor a TESC/TECEP course available for those subjects. I'd like to take CLEP/DSST s much as possible.

These two English Comp classes can be completed using the English Comp I and II TECEPs, will cost about $200 for both exams, and will knock out 6 credits for your residency requirement.

I already took a College Composition CLEP filling those requirements.

[sanantone]

If you don't want to deal with the residency requirements, then choose the Enrolled Options Plan. That requires a $3,062 enrollment fee if you're a non-resident of New Jersey.