TESU Mathematics BA degree plan

[rockstone_Q]

Hi. After years of beating around the bush and rejecting any idea of going to college, my dad had enough and told me to choose a degree and college ASAP. A week of research later, I've come up with a plan of my own. Of course, still a work in progress.

I consulted the TESU page (https://www.tesu.edu/heavin/ba/mathematics), the DegreeForum wiki, and some of the posts here to assemble this. Got stuck as soon as I got to the latter half, with electives, as it looks like I have to pile course on top of course to get anywhere -- which gets study-intensive really fast. Also, because I am not located in the US, I can't take in-person exams like CLEPs.

#

Location: Brazil.
Age: 17 (18 in a couple months).
Preferred degree type: STEM, general enough to be applicable in many jobs -- mathematics is a first choice.
Current credits: 0.
Budget: under 8k.
Commitments: currently in senior-year of high school, will graduate in December. Doing art commissions as a side-hustle. Could get a trade job in the next year.
Timeline: 6-12 months to self-study, 6 months max to get credits. 12-24 months to self-study, 6-9 months max to get credits if I take Chemistry and Physics courses/exams.
Certificates: a bunch of odd free courses from SENAI, which are barely worth much -- but I can list if requested.

I.A:
MAT-129: Precalculus [Sophia] 3c
ENC-101 & ENC-102: English Composition [Sophia] 3+3c
MAT-121: College Algebra [Sophia] 3c
SOS-110: Critical Information Literacy [Cornerstone] 3c RA(TESU)
B:
SOC-210: Marriage and the Family [TECEP] 3c RA(TESU)
ETH-210: Environmental Ethics [TECEP] 3c RA(TESU)
POS-282: Introduction to Comparative Politics [TECEP] 3c RA(TESU)
C:
ENG-201: Technical Writing [TECEP] 3c RA(TESU)
PHI-130: Introduction to Critical Reasoning [TECEP] 3c RA(TESU)
COM-209: Public Speaking [Sophia] 3c
ECO-111 & ECO-112: Micro/Macroeconomics [Sophia] 3+3c
D:
CIS-107: Computer Concepts and Applications [Sophia or TECEP] 3c (RA(TESU)?)
BIO-101: Introductory Biology [Sophia] 3c

II.A:
MAT-231 & MAT-232: Calculus I & II [Sophia, Straighterline] 4+4c
MAT-331: Calculus III [TECEP?] 3c (RA(TESU)?)
STA-201: Principles of Statistics [Sophia] 3c
MAT-305: Linear Algebra [Coopersmith] 3c
B:
MAT-332: Calculus IV [TECEP?] 3c (RA(TESU)?)
MAT-361: College Geometry [TECEP?] 3c (RA(TESU)?)
MAT-301: Math History [TECEP?] 3c (RA(TESU)?)
MAT-401: Mathematical Modeling [TECEP?] 3c (RA(TESU)?)
MAT-351: Mathematical Logic [TECEP?] 3c (RA(TESU)?)
C:
???
D:
LIB-495: Liberal Arts [Capstone] 3c RA(TESU)

III:
Coopersmith's Culinary courses, maybe
???

#

I should note that I've self-studied for Precalculus and Linear Algebra, so I've gotten a headstart. My Khan Academy account has Prealgebra, High School Geometry, Algebra I and II at 100%; I've also had significant progress on David Lay, Judi McDonald and Stephen Lay's Linear Algebra and its Applications, while also occasionally munching on Openstax material and Halliday, Resnick and Walker's Fundamentals of Physics Extended. I'm not sure how much high school chemistry carries over to the undergraduate level, but I'd say I'm doing pretty well with it too. So I guess you could say I'm a textbook person -- but hopefully a faster one.

I plan on studying Physics and Chemistry on my own, degree or no degree, but it would be nice for it to be acknowledged academically.

I'd appreciate any and all suggestions.

[rachel83az]

Why are you taking so many TECEPs? You don't literally have to take what's outlined in the catalog. Those are simply the classes that TESU offers itself. For gen eds, there are many, many more options available. See https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Sa...ts_Roadmap If you WANT to take those TECEPs, that's one thing. But most of those requirements can be covered by Sophia.

TESU only requires 30 RA credits, of which 6 can come from the capstone/cornerstone. Some of the TECEPs can be difficult, and some people have to take them multiple times, so that's potentially a lot of money wasted. Meanwhile, Introduction to Ethics from Sophia (for instance) takes most people 3-5 days to complete.

Most of your math courses have to come from RA sources, and quite possibly some from TESU, so start there and work backwards. As soon as you have the RA credits that you want/need, start filling out the rest from cheaper/easier sources.

I would suggest creating an spreadsheet of your degree plan, instead of just a list, and then uploading a PDF version here (or linking to Google Docs) so we can give more thorough help and you can better see what goes where.

[dfrecore]

TESU's website is now TERRIBLE. They list courses as if that's what you MUST take, when that isn't the case most of the time. They used to show a category, and then what will work in that category, which was a much better way to figure out degree plans, or how your courses would transfer, or whatever.

Anyway, a BA in Math cannot be gotten via alt-credit like most degrees we discuss on here, especially coming from zero credits.

Is your dad paying for this degree? If not, then I think you should look for a different degree. A BALS that's heavy on math and science is ok, but there's probably something else out there from a different school that would work better. Check out SNHU, UMGC, Franklin University, Wilmington University - those all allow for 90cr of transfer and take ACE, and may have degrees that better fit with your goals.

[bjcheung77]

@rockstone_Q, what's your favorite subjects besides Math? What's your second/third choice after Math? Is it Chem/Physics? What about Comp Sci or Data Analytics? You can create a couple plans, one for a BALS NSM and one for BA Math by following the steps on the Wiki. See which ones appeal to you and take as many courses you can outside of Math for your free electives in subject areas you like, such as Chem/Physics or other STEM related courses.

[LevelUP]

We have someone finishing up a TESU Math degree now.

He is doing MAT-361 College Geometry, MAT-301 History of Mathematics, and MAT-331 Calculus III as TESU courses.

There is a Coursera course, SAS Advanced Programmer Certificate Special Topics in Statistics (STA-399), that could save you from having to do one of the UL courses at TESU.

I suggest looking over the degree plan carefully and making a spreadsheet of what courses you need to take

https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Sa...egree_Plan

[rachel83az]

I've updated the math plan on the wiki to be more in line with the current catalog. https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Sa...egree_Plan

[LevelUP]

I've updated the math plan on the wiki to be more in line with the current catalog. https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Sa...egree_Plan

Sophia's Calculus I works for the Calculus I reqiurement.

Sophia's Introduction to College Mathematics will knock out one of the LL math requirements.

[rachel83az]

I've updated the math plan on the wiki to be more in line with the current catalog. https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Sa...egree_Plan

Sophia's Calculus I works for the Calculus I reqiurement.

Sophia's Introduction to College Mathematics will knock out one of the LL math requirements.

Thanks. Fixed.

[sarahmac]

I've updated the math plan on the wiki to be more in line with the current catalog. https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Sa...egree_Plan

Sophia's Calculus I works for the Calculus I reqiurement.

Sophia's Introduction to College Mathematics will knock out one of the LL math requirements.

Thanks. Fixed.

Lower level math requirements still have to be 200 level inside Part F! "AOS Elective courses must be at the 200-400 academic level".

A lot of the ones on the Wiki are incorrect. The only lower level classes currently listed on the wiki that count inside Part F are Discrete Math and Geometry (both SDC). The CSM course also works there, though it is not listed on the wiki, because it comes in at the 200 level.

All of the 100 levels listed under Part F must be moved to Part G, where they do count. I presume this is a more recent change? I am on last year's catalog, and it states it on this year's too.

[rachel83az]

Lower level math requirements still have to be 200 level inside Part F! A lot of the ones on the Wiki are incorrect.

The only lower level classes currently listed on the wiki that count inside Part F are Discrete Math and Geometry (both SDC). The CSM course also works there, though it is not listed on the wiki, because it comes in at the 200 level. All of the 100 levels listed under Part F must be moved to Part G. I presume this is a more recent catalogue change? I am on last year's catalogue.

You're right! Thanks for noticing this. I'll fix it now. Thanks.