TESU BSBA CIS, law school, and GPA

[davewill]

Some schools are more competitive than others. I'd call admissions at your chosen school and discuss this with them. They should be able to tell you if they consider applications without GPAs, or if they would be willing to evaluate your transcript directly.

[ssorj]

I called UMPI and got one of those scummy sales people wanting me to sign-up now.  I realize that is sometimes a fact of life and I asked to speak with an advisor or someone that could point me to credit transferability resources. They promised to have someone call me back.  Five minutes later, a different pushy sales-guy calls back.  Yuck.  I have lost all interest in UMPI.  TESU never had skeezy sales people call me.  Just my two cents.

I'm in a bit of a unique situation since I can only reasonably apply to one law school for a combination of geographic and financial reasons.  So, rather than wonder, I called them.  They said that there are many other students in my situation and if any application came with a strong LSAT and no LSAC CAS provided GPA, they would look at the original transcripts.  They pointed out that I would not be alone.  Many other students were in similar positions.  I asked how I might be able to evaluate my chances of admission without the LSAT+GPA tools and I didn't get a straight answer, but I got the feeling that I was being encouraged to apply and was reassured again that there were many students in the same position.  I don't know if that helps anyone else, but I thought I'd try to give back a bit to the forum that has been so helpful to me.  

I have decided continue on my current path and shift slightly to take more courses through straighterline where they give letter grades if the course is in my strong areas of reading, writing, history, or language.  For the areas where I struggle like algebra and statistics, I'll stick to pass/fail.  If it turns out that at the end of this whole ordeal that I get a BSBA CIS from TESU and can't get into the ABA approved law school near me, I'll revisit this problem, but with a few more tools at my disposal.  I may retake a handful of courses for a letter grade if I don't make it into law school the first time around.  I think that if I can pull off a strong LSAT and show an undergrad degree hodge-podged together throughout my thirties, they'd be fools to deny entry.

[ss20ts]

I called UMPI and got one of those scummy sales people wanting me to sign-up now.  I realize that is sometimes a fact of life and I asked to speak with an advisor or someone that could point me to credit transferability resources. They promised to have someone call me back.  Five minutes later, a different pushy sales-guy calls back.  Yuck.  I have lost all interest in UMPI.  TESU never had skeezy sales people call me.  Just my two cents.

I'm in a bit of a unique situation since I can only reasonably apply to one law school for a combination of geographic and financial reasons.  So, rather than wonder, I called them.  They said that there are many other students in my situation and if any application came with a strong LSAT and no LSAC CAS provided GPA, they would look at the original transcripts.  They pointed out that I would not be alone.  Many other students were in similar positions.  I asked how I might be able to evaluate my chances of admission without the LSAT+GPA tools and I didn't get a straight answer, but I got the feeling that I was being encouraged to apply and was reassured again that there were many students in the same position.  I don't know if that helps anyone else, but I thought I'd try to give back a bit to the forum that has been so helpful to me.  

I have decided continue on my current path and shift slightly to take more courses through straighterline where they give letter grades if the course is in my strong areas of reading, writing, history, or language.  For the areas where I struggle like algebra and statistics, I'll stick to pass/fail.  If it turns out that at the end of this whole ordeal that I get a BSBA CIS from TESU and can't get into the ABA approved law school near me, I'll revisit this problem, but with a few more tools at my disposal.  I may retake a handful of courses for a letter grade if I don't make it into law school the first time around.  I think that if I can pull off a strong LSAT and show an undergrad degree hodge-podged together throughout my thirties, they'd be fools to deny entry.

They're not scummy sales people. They are enrollment counselors. The admissions counselor for YourPace is out on maternity leave right now. What are you looking to know about transferring? Most colleges will provide limited info about transferring until you've applied and they can see your transcripts. 

What can they sell you on? The application is free at UMPI. 

[davewill]

...  I may retake a handful of courses for a letter grade if I don't make it into law school the first time around.  I think that if I can pull off a strong LSAT and show an undergrad degree hodge-podged together throughout my thirties, they'd be fools to deny entry.

That's the ticket. Better to keep moving forward than doing a bunch of backtracking that may not even be needed. It can always be done later if you find you have to.

[dfrecore]

I called UMPI and got one of those scummy sales people wanting me to sign-up now.  I realize that is sometimes a fact of life and I asked to speak with an advisor or someone that could point me to credit transferability resources. They promised to have someone call me back.  Five minutes later, a different pushy sales-guy calls back.  Yuck.  I have lost all interest in UMPI.  TESU never had skeezy sales people call me.  Just my two cents.

I'm in a bit of a unique situation since I can only reasonably apply to one law school for a combination of geographic and financial reasons.  So, rather than wonder, I called them.  They said that there are many other students in my situation and if any application came with a strong LSAT and no LSAC CAS provided GPA, they would look at the original transcripts.  They pointed out that I would not be alone.  Many other students were in similar positions.  I asked how I might be able to evaluate my chances of admission without the LSAT+GPA tools and I didn't get a straight answer, but I got the feeling that I was being encouraged to apply and was reassured again that there were many students in the same position.  I don't know if that helps anyone else, but I thought I'd try to give back a bit to the forum that has been so helpful to me.  

I have decided continue on my current path and shift slightly to take more courses through straighterline where they give letter grades if the course is in my strong areas of reading, writing, history, or language.  For the areas where I struggle like algebra and statistics, I'll stick to pass/fail.  If it turns out that at the end of this whole ordeal that I get a BSBA CIS from TESU and can't get into the ABA approved law school near me, I'll revisit this problem, but with a few more tools at my disposal.  I may retake a handful of courses for a letter grade if I don't make it into law school the first time around.  I think that if I can pull off a strong LSAT and show an undergrad degree hodge-podged together throughout my thirties, they'd be fools to deny entry.

I'd be surprised if anyone will count SL courses with letter grades, I know with 100% certainty that TESU will not show SL letter grades on your transcript.  I'm not certain the law school understood that you'd be trying to pass ACE transcripts as "graded credit."  I would give some thought to taking some actual courses (through TEL, ONU, a CC, etc.) for REAL letter grades.

[ssorj]

@dfrecore - Could you give me a better understanding of TEL?  Many of those courses seem heaving in reading/writing which are my strong points.  $200/course (I'm assuming 3 credits, I didn't look that deeply yet) is affordable.  They say you get up to a year to complete it, which seems good.  One major issue I have is that my work is unpredictable.  Most days, I can fit in an hour of school work.  Some days I can do up to four hours.  However, with one or two day's notice, I might be unavailable for 4-8 weeks where I can do little or no work.  Community college doesn't fit my work/life requirements.  TEL looked like it might fit well.  

I didn't see TESU as an option for transfers.  I see Greenville, Mid-Atlantic, and York College.  Let's imagine I picked York.  Is the plan you're suggesting something like taking all the TEL credits that I can and filling out the rest of the York degree with ACE credit and a few uppers plus a capstone with York?  Could you point me to a transfer table like TESU's or is that not possible?  I'm just trying to work out the total cost and time if I were to do something like this.  Plus, if TESU will accept TEL credits, they'll work for a few courses I still have remaining, right?  In the case that I finish TESU and the transcript won't get me into law school, what prevents me from transferring TEL and ACE credits to York and finishing a few uppers and a capstone with them to get the 'real letter grades'?

[HogwartsSchool]

Share of my experience into competitive grad schools for professional degrees.
The (60+ UL) letter grades from RA institution are more important than the actual bachelors degree in many cases. Even if a ACE provider has letter grades, that provides no benefit. Many states require certain amount of semester credits from RA school with real letter grades for specific courses related to the license. I am having to repeat courses to receive real letter grades for UL courses because ACE credits are not recognized even though they are part of the bachelors degree.

Most important is planning out and find out the requirements, not just the school but any required licensing boards and each State is different. They only care about the upper level courses, 3xxx or 4xxx.

[rachel83az]

@dfrecore - Could you give me a better understanding of TEL?  Many of those courses seem heaving in reading/writing which are my strong points.  $200/course (I'm assuming 3 credits, I didn't look that deeply yet) is affordable.  They say you get up to a year to complete it, which seems good.  One major issue I have is that my work is unpredictable.  Most days, I can fit in an hour of school work.  Some days I can do up to four hours.  However, with one or two day's notice, I might be unavailable for 4-8 weeks where I can do little or no work.  Community college doesn't fit my work/life requirements.  TEL looked like it might fit well.  

I didn't see TESU as an option for transfers.  I see Greenville, Mid-Atlantic, and York College.  Let's imagine I picked York.  Is the plan you're suggesting something like taking all the TEL credits that I can and filling out the rest of the York degree with ACE credit and a few uppers plus a capstone with York?  Could you point me to a transfer table like TESU's or is that not possible?  I'm just trying to work out the total cost and time if I were to do something like this.  Plus, if TESU will accept TEL credits, they'll work for a few courses I still have remaining, right?  In the case that I finish TESU and the transcript won't get me into law school, what prevents me from transferring TEL and ACE credits to York and finishing a few uppers and a capstone with them to get the 'real letter grades'?

For TEL, it's all asynchronous. It will certainly work with the schedule you have.

In regards to transcripts, the schools you list for "transfers" are where your credits will be transcribed. As far as TESU (or anyone else) will be able to tell, you will have taken your classes directly from the transcribing institution. In general, MACU looks like it gives the best options for transferability. https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/TEL_Learning 

Another option for credit is ONU. With ONU, everything is post-paid, unlike TEL where you pre-pay for everything. You don't pay the $50/credit until you have completed everything in a course and want your final grade. https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Ol...University One huge benefit of ONU is that you are allowed to resubmit assignments in order to get a better/higher grade. If you are a few points shy of an A, you do not have to but you are permitted to redo and resubmit assignments. If you really want/need the best GPA possible, ONU might be the school for you. There is a lot of reading and writing, depending on the course, so these may be perfect for you.

[dfrecore]

@dfrecore - Could you give me a better understanding of TEL?  Many of those courses seem heaving in reading/writing which are my strong points.  $200/course (I'm assuming 3 credits, I didn't look that deeply yet) is affordable.  They say you get up to a year to complete it, which seems good.  One major issue I have is that my work is unpredictable.  Most days, I can fit in an hour of school work.  Some days I can do up to four hours.  However, with one or two day's notice, I might be unavailable for 4-8 weeks where I can do little or no work.  Community college doesn't fit my work/life requirements.  TEL looked like it might fit well.  

I didn't see TESU as an option for transfers.  I see Greenville, Mid-Atlantic, and York College.  Let's imagine I picked York.  Is the plan you're suggesting something like taking all the TEL credits that I can and filling out the rest of the York degree with ACE credit and a few uppers plus a capstone with York?  Could you point me to a transfer table like TESU's or is that not possible?  I'm just trying to work out the total cost and time if I were to do something like this.  Plus, if TESU will accept TEL credits, they'll work for a few courses I still have remaining, right?  In the case that I finish TESU and the transcript won't get me into law school, what prevents me from transferring TEL and ACE credits to York and finishing a few uppers and a capstone with them to get the 'real letter grades'?

TEL is a course provider, but they aren't ACE/NCCRS - instead, they work with several colleges and you actually get the courses put on a transcript of an RA college.  Once you complete a course and get it transcripted, you can then send the transcript wherever you want, just like you would with any college.  In most instances, I would choose MACU, since they have the most courses done and the best options for what they call the courses.  You actually choose the school when you enroll in the course.

TEL courses are self-paced, so you do them when you want.  ONU also has self-paced courses, and they're only $150 per course.  They have some good options as well, including several UL courses.

[Oldson]

I also had problems with my GPA calculation. This issue was going for some days, I won’t get into details, but frankly it took dome time for them to figure it out. Since then, I started taking more classes online, where you don’t get GPA points, but rather certifications with indicated score. I think this is a great approach to academia. Getting educated online can be actually fun. I recently took this law course on alu.edu, and I must say I was very impressed with the whole process. The professors were so nice and diplomatic, the materials and teaching methods seemed very professional to me. Highly recommend.