2019 TESU Graduate - Thank You thread!

[badooble]

I wanted to post a big thank you to this community, and especially to the active and knowledgeable members who give so freely of their time.  In December 2019 I graduated from TESU with a BALS - Humanities degree as well as an ASNSM - Comp Sci degree.  

The ASNSM was a last minute decision, so I scrambled in September to complete the CSMLearn math course (needed that second math course) and a Study.com Geology course (needed 1 more Natural World class).  

I was one course shy of being able to use the Natural Science and Math concentration for my BALS, but ultimately decided that I was happy with the Humanities concentration and getting my diploma in 2019.

I started my higher ed journey in 2017 with zero credits, after finding that the 60 community college credits I earned in the late 80s were no good because the school wasn't accredited back then. I managed to get into SNHU's College for America competency based program where I earned 39 credits in six months. I then transferred to TESU and used alternative credits for the rest of my coursework. Remember the awesome Study.com 3 month Guardian scholarship?

I also received the Pierpont BoG Associate of Applied Science with an emphasis in English in 2019.  It was free and sure looks nice in a frame, even if the transcript issue still limits its value.  First applied for it in 2017, but the ball was dropped a few times.       The cool thing is that Pierpont did accept most of my old orphaned credits from the 80s, so they ended up being used after all.  

Finishing up everything took me 2.5 years, with a lot of life happening along the way.  The journey itself was so much fun that I'm almost sorry it's over. So many hours with my planning spreadsheet and data mining this forum!   

My biggest advice to folks would be to just get started. I lurked here on and off for many years, dating back to the BAin4Weeks days when the main options for alternative credit were CLEP, DANTES and GRE subject tests. We have so many more credit options now. Even though the big 3 keep changing requirements and policies, it's still as possible as ever to do this, especially with the help available on this forum. And newer CBE options like WGU and College for America give us even more options.

What's next? I'm 30+ years into a great job as a senior software developer, but I'm 51 and will be eligible for early retirement soon, and I may explore careers in other fields while drawing a retirement check! I'm also thinking about Grad school.  

And I'm sure I'll continue to lurk on this forum, chiming in whenever I have something useful to contribute.  Anyone who wants to reach out with a question can PM me or ask right here. Thanks!

[jsd]

Great work! Congrats. Thanks for the writeup, it's fun to see how people's journey unfolded.

[lacussucceed]

Congratulations! Retiring in your 50s sound great, hope you find some great use for your skills and time.

[suzycupcake]

Congratulations! That’s a great journey - thanks for sharing your story!!

[jsh1138]

I finished my TESU degree last year and I'd like to second all that. This community was instrumental in helping me do it

[carsonallen77]

That's awesome man, your story gives me hope. Heck man, you should get a Masters and a PhD lol. I am 42 years old with ZERO credits, but I had a dream of getting a PhD when I was 20 years old. Because of stories like yours and this forum I am going to attain that PhD goal even if it takes 10 years.

Sincerely.

[SweetsugarNL]

Congrats well done!

[armstrongsubero]

Congratulations! Well done!

[bjcheung77]

Congrats on getting this far and completing the degree after all that hard work!! That was an awesome read, it's hard to start over from zero when you've gone through many credits at that previous institution. Perseverance paid off on this big time and you got those two extra Associates to boot! Question, was the SNHU College of America course paid off by your employer?

[badooble]

Congrats on getting this far and completing the degree after all that hard work!!  That was an awesome read, it's hard to start over from zero when you've gone through many credits at that previous institution.  Perseverance paid off on this big time and you got those two extra Associates to boot!  Question, was the SNHU College of America course paid off by your employer?

It wasn't.  I got in by taking advantage of an informal friends and family loophole and making a 'friend' with someone I found on LinkedIn who was attending. My employer wasn't a partner with the school. Honestly, I think they just let me in so I would quite pestering them.  

I took the full $1500 cost as a tax credit, though.  Very cheap credits if you can get in and if you qualify for a higher ed tax credit.  There aren't a ton of options as far as majors or electives, so I ultimately jumped ship but it's a great program. The price has gone up a bit, but $2500 for 6 months is still cheap.