TESU/UMPI - History & English/Journalism Advice

[samiam]

Good Morning Everyone,

I am back seeking updated advice to my degree plan. Some may remember when I asked last year, I was advised to go the TESU route once I was closer to my goal. At the time my plan was on a History degree. My goal is still a History degree, and if possible to also get an English or Journalism degree/concentration/minor roughly about the same time.

I used ALEKS for math (Algebra with Trig, and I prefer not to retake another math class IF AT ALL POSSIBLE).

Background: I turn 18 in August of this year. I was homeschooled and completed my HS requirements on April 30, 2021 in Virginia. The formal commencement exercise is on June 12. I need to get moving to ensure my goals are achievable and I can stay within my timeline. I want to participate in a commencement ceremony for my Bachelors. I am moving to a 3rd world island country in Fall 2023 and want to save as much money as possible for my move and living until I can get a job there. The economy is not that great and about 70% of the population does not have jobs. My reasons for moving are personal but family-related. I was hoping to work in a museum; but, there is only one museum there - I am unlikely to get a job in that museum when I know people will hold on dearly to the one they've been in. Therefore, I am focusing on History & English/Journalism to either go the teaching route (prob K-12) or news editing. I love History and wanted to be an Archaeologist, but my/my family's finances do not support that avenue any time soon. I think teaching is the more employable route, though, where I will be moving. 

I read through the threads last night and saw that UMPI is a new option. Does anyone know if they will take my ALEKS math? Do I need more math courses for these 2/3 degrees listed above? Can you recommend where I should take my next courses? I've been using the advice from last time to get to this point below, and from the threads, it appears that I should consider readjusting my path (and courses to take) at this time. Here's what I currently have...Business Law is in progress:

Aleks
College Algebra with Trigonometry v2 Completed July 2018

Arizona State University (ASU)
Bio 100 The Living World Completed 2021
Eng 102 English Composition: Research and Writing / Eng. 102 First-Year Composition Completed 2021

Study.com
English 104: College Composition I Completed 2019

Sophia Learning
Developing Effective Teams (BUS1200 - 2016) Completed 2018
Ancient Greek Philosophers (PHIL1001) Completed 2020
Introduction to Ethics (PHIL1002) Completed 2020
Introduction to Psychology (PSY1001) Completed 2020
Public Speaking (COMM1002) Completed 2020
Approaches to Studying Religions (REL1001) Completed 2020
Art History I (ARTHIST1001) Completed 2020
Art History II (ARTHIST1002) Completed 2020
Visual Communications (VISCOMM1001) Completed 2021
Microeconomics (ECON1002) Completed 2021
Macroeconomics (ECON1001) Completed 2021
Business Law (BUSLAW1001) In Progress (writing the final paper)

Straighterline
Western Civilization I (CIV101) Completed 2019
Western Civilization II (CIV102) Completed 2019
United States History I (USHIST101) Completed 2019
United States History II (USHIST102) Completed 2020
 

I am also willing to pay if someone can help me be better structured in my approach to my curriculum degree planning. I normally only take one class at a time and work through it until I can complete it. I don't go at a fast pace, I think my pace is average. I do work daily (including holidays and weekends) on my assignments and it does require more time from me than it would another student. I had a Learning Delay diagnosis from before I entered elementary; however, I do believe the quality of my writing is better than some of my actual college-age peers when I read the stuff they turn in. All to say, I am willing to put in the work and effort; albeit, it may be slower than most people on here. 


Thank you everyone, appreciate your time.
Samara

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

[rachel83az]

Yes, UMPI should take ALEKS math for some degrees. Unfortunately, they do not accept anyone under the age of 20. Unlike TESU, there are no waivers or any other way around this requirement. You'll either need to wait 2 years to go to UMPI or else continue on with TESU. If you continue on with TESU, you will need a further 15 credits from TEL Learning or ONU ( https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Ol...University ). I don't remember if this was already a TESU requirement the last time you were here.

Also, I don't know what country you're moving to but there is a really affordable Master's degree in Classical Archaeology that you might enjoy. Thread here: https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...a-Sapienza The biggest catch is that, depending on the pandemic and travel restrictions, you might have to travel to Italy for exams. You can absolutely still teach with an archaeology degree, at least.

[bjcheung77]

Hey, I think the UMPI programs might be a good match for you. You should get all your general education requirements completed with Sophia.org since you're already using them. There really isn't a need to "pay" someone to provide you advice as many members here can answer your questions - including myself. You might want to also take a look at this thread for details, the main difference is that this is for a BA Management, having said that, the general education requirements should be the same: https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...-for-3-222 - UMPI Programs: https://online.umpi.edu/programs/

[ss20ts]

I have not seen UMPI accept ALEKS for math. They are kind of strict on the math and science requirements. You can ask them if they accept it. You also MUST be a minimum of 20 years old for UMPI's YourPace program. They do not make exceptions to this policy. We've seen someone on here complain about that. The good news is that you can spend the 2 years working on courses for UMPI and take your time.

[rachel83az]

I have not seen UMPI accept ALEKS for math. They are kind of strict on the math and science requirements. You can ask them if they accept it. You also MUST be a minimum of 20 years old for UMPI's YourPace program. They do not make exceptions to this policy. We've seen someone on here complain about that. The good news is that you can spend the 2 years working on courses for UMPI and take your time.

They took ashkir's ALEKS math credits. But the business degrees specifically need business math. For an English or History degree, I would expect that any algebra course would work.

[ss20ts]

I have not seen UMPI accept ALEKS for math. They are kind of strict on the math and science requirements. You can ask them if they accept it. You also MUST be a minimum of 20 years old for UMPI's YourPace program. They do not make exceptions to this policy. We've seen someone on here complain about that. The good news is that you can spend the 2 years working on courses for UMPI and take your time.

They took ashkir's ALEKS math credits. But the business degrees specifically need business math. For an English or History degree, I would expect that any algebra course would work.

I just went and looked up his degree sheet and they accepted it as Precalculus. It did not fulfill the math requirement for him. It was a general elective. I completed the BLS and had to have College Algebra which I transferred in from a college. My Precalculus course from the same college did not fill the math requirement for my degree plan.

[dfrecore]

UMPI would have been a perfect fit, if not for timing. So you have to move on from there.

TESU has a History degree and an English degree that you can get at the same time.

COSC has a Liberal Studies degree with History and English concentrations. I'm not sure if they allow 2 concentrations, you'd have to check. And, since COSC requires 30cr of RA for their degrees, you could find some of the requirements at RA schools to get those requirements met. It would be more expensive than doing it all via alternative means of course, but I think it would probably be worth doing.

[dbinghamjr]

I have not seen UMPI accept ALEKS for math. They are kind of strict on the math and science requirements. You can ask them if they accept it. You also MUST be a minimum of 20 years old for UMPI's YourPace program. They do not make exceptions to this policy. We've seen someone on here complain about that. The good news is that you can spend the 2 years working on courses for UMPI and take your time.

They took ashkir's ALEKS math credits. But the business degrees specifically need business math. For an English or History degree, I would expect that any algebra course would work.

I just went and looked up his degree sheet and they accepted it as Precalculus. It did not fulfill the math requirement for him. It was a general elective. I completed the BLS and had to have College Algebra which I transferred in from a college. My Precalculus course from the same college did not fill the math requirement for my degree plan.

They accepted it as PreCalc because that's the course he took from ALEKS.

[samiam]

Thanks everyone.

I wish I could afford a trip to Italy. I do not qualify for FAFSA and my parents can only afford to go through these alternative credits route.

Since I am leaving the states in 2023, I probably won't be able/it may be really tight to do UMPI and participate in commencement. I am hoping to have it all done by 2022, to guarantee my commencement participation in 2023-that's super important to me. I also don't expect to have enough money to attend any college courses beyond 2023 because my family and I will be on local wages. You make roughly .40 cents - .33 cents/hour. Making $10,000 USD/annual is considered having a good job; but that's barely scraping by. I just need to have my act together and make every class count. My first year trying alt credits in 2019, I dragged out one class for a whole year, which I've regretted.

I was told COSC does not accept any ALEKS classes at all. I def won't be attempting that route.

These replies confirmed that I need to just stick it out with my original TESU route. Based on the classes I completed, we discussed previously my TEL or OLIVET classes. I will be signing up for those before June. ASU was great, the format was excellent, but I found other college students turning in fake work (we had to do numerous peer reviews) and I found it very disappointing in that aspect. It's something I need to just let go of and get over.

Of the UL classes, I recall that it was advised to take those classes through SDC. Do you mind telling me which ones are UL on SDC and based on what I already completed, what courses do you recommend thru Olivet/TEL/or another online school. I am going to request the waiver for 18 yo based on completing their criteria for the required minimum credit.

Based on all of your comments/info., I will try to pursue both English/History together.

Thanks again for the info.

---

For **ASU, I just want to clarify my comment. I took 2 classes with them, and what I encountered happened only in 1 class. It depends on how the class modules are set up. Both classes were quite different in many ways.

[dfrecore]

I think TESU will give you what you want for both English and History.  It's the only one of the Big 3 that brings in what you need for UL from Study.com.  One thing to keep in mind is that when you're doing a 2nd major, you don't need any Free Electives - so don't waste any time/money on courses that aren't GE or part of your major.

Here's a plan for your remaining credits.  I'm prioritizing RA credits first, then UL in the major, then LL in the major, then price.

Once you graduate, you can take courses at ONU for just $50/cr:
- ENG 300: Thematic Studies in Literature (UL) - UL English Elective
- HIS 379: Latin American History and Politics (UL) - UL Non-Western History requirement
- SOC 120: Introduction to Sociology - Diversity requirement
- PSY223: American Government for your Civic Engagement requirement
- GEO 121: Physical Geology - 2nd Natural World requirement
- ENG 204: World Literature - LL English Elective
.  That gives you 18cr RA, and when added to your 6cr from ASU, and the 6cr from TESU that you'll take, is all you need.

Study.com
HIS 301: Historiography & Historical Methods (UL) - requirement in the AoS
HIS 306: The American Civil War Era (UL) - UL elective in the AoS
HIS 308: Causes & Effects of the Vietnam War (UL) - UL elective in the AoS
HIS 311: The Holocaust and WWII (UL) - UL elective in the AoS
any other non-duplicating history course, can be UL or LL
ENG 301: Non-Western Literature (UL) - required in the AoS
ENGL 305: Advanced Technical Writing (UL) - UL elective in the AoS
ENGL 310: Short Stories - elective in the AoS

Coopersmith
LIT-401: Medieval Hispano-Jewish Poetry (UL) - UL elective in the AoS

CLEP
English Literature or American Literature (you need 6cr in either)
Analyzing & Interpreting Literature - required in AoS

Any 2 courses (6cr) that will work in the GE that don't duplicate what you already have, from wherever you want (CLEP, Study.com, Sophia, etc.)

Finally, you need 1 additional UL English course from somewhere.  Here are some options:

U of Arkansas Self-Paced Online ($495/course)
- JOUR4333: Ethics in Journalism

BYU-IS ($636/course)
- ENGL361: American Literature 1800-1865
- ENGL362: American Literature 1865-1914
- ENGL362: American Literature 1914-1960
- ENGL366: Studies in Poetry
- ENGL382: Shakespeare
- ENGL385: British Literarture 1603-1660: The Late Renaissance
- ENGL420: Young Adult Literature

Good luck!

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Edit: This puts your total cost at $9,093, give or take.