TESU BALS and Questions

[Muldoon]

I can't speak to the actual course placements, but I noticed you listed prices for the CLEP exams. If you take the Modern States course(s) for each exam you want to take, it gives you a voucher for the CLEP exam fee (and reimburses you the test center fee). That would lower your total cost.

[dfrecore]

Also, would anyone be willing to look at my degree plan and let me know if I have everything in the correct places? I gave it my best shot according to my current knowledge, but I don't know if I placed everything in the correct categories. I understand that things can change and courses sometimes get re-categorized. I just want to get as much in place as I can now so I can work on a plan to start tackling this degree and hopefully get done this year!

A&I Lit fulfills the Info Lit Requirement, so you can put that up there instead of Religion.

Business Ethics & Society probably not go into the BALS AOS, you should check on that.  It has a BUS prefix, and those usually don't work there.  But since you have an extra course listed in that area, it's easy enough to remove.

You also have extra credits listed in the AOS LL area - you only need 15cr, so remove 6cr from there.

You have a ton of extra credits in the Free Electives area as well.

Also, you have Sophia listed as costing $165, normally they are $329/course.  How did you get that price?

The Music History TECEP is listed as $234, that should cost $117.

Last, you look to be paying for some CLEP exams, if you take ModernStates.org courses (free) to study for them, they will give you free vouchers to use there, and the exams are free.

[TexasTink]

I can't speak to the actual course placements, but I noticed you listed prices for the CLEP exams. If you take the Modern States course(s) for each exam you want to take, it gives you a voucher for the CLEP exam fee (and reimburses you the test center fee). That would lower your total cost.

Thanks! I'll look into that for sure. Would you say that, generally speaking, the courses prepare you for the CLEP or do you need other supplemental resources as well?

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Also, would anyone be willing to look at my degree plan and let me know if I have everything in the correct places? I gave it my best shot according to my current knowledge, but I don't know if I placed everything in the correct categories. I understand that things can change and courses sometimes get re-categorized. I just want to get as much in place as I can now so I can work on a plan to start tackling this degree and hopefully get done this year!

A&I Lit fulfills the Info Lit Requirement, so you can put that up there instead of Religion.

Business Ethics & Society probably not go into the BALS AOS, you should check on that.  It has a BUS prefix, and those usually don't work there.  But since you have an extra course listed in that area, it's easy enough to remove.

You also have extra credits listed in the AOS LL area - you only need 15cr, so remove 6cr from there.

You have a ton of extra credits in the Free Electives area as well.

Also, you have Sophia listed as costing $165, normally they are $329/course.  How did you get that price?

The Music History TECEP is listed as $234, that should cost $117.

Last, you look to be paying for some CLEP exams, if you take ModernStates.org courses (free) to study for them, they will give you free vouchers to use there, and the exams are free.

Great! I'll move that around.

Yes, I'm aware of the extra credits. I haven't decided which courses I want to take yet or if I had things listed correctly so I wanted to have extra to play around with. I'll work on narrowing those down.

For the Sophia courses, I saw on the website that if you buy 3 courses, you get 50% off. I'll have to check and see if that is still going or not.

For the TECEP, if I decide to take it - it would be best to do so after I enroll?

[davewill]

...
For the TECEP, if I decide to take it - it would be best to do so after I enroll?

Yes, TECEPs are cheaper for matriculated (degree seeking) students than they are for non-matriculated.

[Muldoon]

I can't speak to the actual course placements, but I noticed you listed prices for the CLEP exams. If you take the Modern States course(s) for each exam you want to take, it gives you a voucher for the CLEP exam fee (and reimburses you the test center fee). That would lower your total cost.

Thanks! I'll look into that for sure. Would you say that, generally speaking, the courses prepare you for the CLEP or do you need other supplemental resources as well?

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I haven't taken any courses through Modern States yet, but if it turns out I need to take any CLEP exams, I will. I may use it to help prep for some other overlapping courses I'm taking elsewhere.
I have read some mixed reviews here from other users. Most courses seemed well suited for the exam prep, but I do remember seeing comments that other courses did not prepare the user well. You might want to search the forum by course/exam or see if other forum members can chime in with specific feedback.

[Ideas]

Thanks! I'll look into that for sure. Would you say that, generally speaking, the courses prepare you for the CLEP or do you need other supplemental resources as well?

I would say it's a good refresher, or a good start, and you need other resouces. Unless you already know a lot of the material and only need a refresher.

[TexasTink]

I've been reading the threads on here and it seems like there's some change brewing at TESU.  I'm looking for advice on the best course of action.  Would it be better to sit back and watch for a little until more info comes or should I go ahead and apply/register now?  (And if I apply, it seems like it would be beneficial to get all my credits pre-approved?)  I don't have a lot of credits yet - only 38 - so that's why I'm hesitating. I also don't want to be "stuck" with TESU if they change a lot of things and it causes problems in the future (like getting rid of course providers/not accepting courses).  I'd prefer getting a degree from TESU since they currently seem most flexible and that's what I've been working towards.  Excelsior would be okay as well, though the UL credits are giving me a little trouble. (going for a BALS with a possible concentration in Humanities)  I don't want a degree from COSC.  Any advice?

I'll attach my most recent degree plan at TESU in case that's helpful.  (I know it has lots of extra credits - I haven't fully decided on some courses and am waiting to swap some out if Study gets more UL history courses approved.)  I also did an Excelsior one as a backup if anyone has familiarity there to offer some input.  


  Emily TESU 2018 BALS.xlsx (Size: 49.85 KB / Downloads: 15)

  Emily EC - BALS-Humanities.xlsx (Size: 511.9 KB / Downloads: 6)

[dfrecore]

I've been reading the threads on here and it seems like there's some change brewing at TESU.  I'm looking for advice on the best course of action.  Would it be better to sit back and watch for a little until more info comes or should I go ahead and apply/register now?  (And if I apply, it seems like it would be beneficial to get all my credits pre-approved?)  I don't have a lot of credits yet - only 38 - so that's why I'm hesitating. I also don't want to be "stuck" with TESU if they change a lot of things and it causes problems in the future (like getting rid of course providers/not accepting courses).  I'd prefer getting a degree from TESU since they currently seem most flexible and that's what I've been working towards.  Excelsior would be okay as well, though the UL credits are giving me a little trouble. (going for a BALS with a possible concentration in Humanities)  I don't want a degree from COSC.  Any advice?

I'll attach my most recent degree plan at TESU in case that's helpful.  (I know it has lots of extra credits - I haven't fully decided on some courses and am waiting to swap some out if Study gets more UL history courses approved.)  I also did an Excelsior one as a backup if anyone has familiarity there to offer some input.  

First, there's no way to get "stuck" at TESU, since you don't lose anything or pay anything other than the application fee to get started.  Since there are no per-term fees there, you're much better off applying and locking in your catalog now, than waiting until things change (not always for the better).  If you decide to leave later, you haven't lost anything at all.

And, I know that at this time, they are cheaper than EC, so you're better off at TESU than EC if you have a degree plan that you like.  After 6/30 though, all bets are off on pricing.

Looking at your plan, the only issue I see is Business Ethics in Society DSST exam - I'm pretty sure you can't use it in the BALS AOS, so I would make sure of that.  There are plenty of other UL courses you can take though, so just ask first before taking it.

Also, you have some Study.com courses that are 300-level, but they are only LL for now (obviously Study.com wanted them to come in UL but they didn't get ACE-approved for it).  So, before you take a course with UL coursework, make sure you want to do the extra work for a course that will only come in as LL.  But if it interests you, it might be worth it (they look interesting to me, and there is some overlap with other courses).

Last, I would look at really concentrating on a bunch of the same type of courses - if you're going to do history, do a LOT of them, as there will be lots of overlap in your learning, making it faster to get through them all.

[TexasTink]

Thank you! Apparently I was confused on the process of that. I'll work on applying to TESU soon then.

On the DSST/Study - I'll check into that DSST. I'm actually hoping to swap it and possibly all the other ones for the new Study courses. Is there a normal length of time it takes for the courses to be re-approved as UL? Once my Guardian runs out in June, my current plan is to hit the CLEPs hard and then return to Study later. I'm hoping some of those courses may be UL or close to it by then. I'll be sure to watch on here and ACE to check the level before taking them.

[dfrecore]

Thank you!  Apparently I was confused on the process of that.  I'll work on applying to TESU soon then.

On the DSST/Study - I'll check into that DSST.  I'm actually hoping to swap it and possibly all the other ones for the new Study courses.  Is there a normal length of time it takes for the courses to be re-approved as UL?  Once my Guardian runs out in June, my current plan is to hit the CLEPs hard and then return to Study later.  I'm hoping some of those courses may be UL or close to it by then.  I'll be sure to watch on here and ACE to check the level before taking them.

Since there are so many UL courses available, I would not try to wait out the UL approval, but just do the current UL courses now.  There is no timeframe for getting those changed.