Testing out of TESC Associates Degree "Study Area" requirements

[TrailRunr]

If you're going to be working in the natural science field, then I believe that completing labs in the classroom is important because you'll receive more guidance. But, I'm going to play devil's advocate here. How would a school know if you completed a lab by distance if you attended a school that has a campus? Nothing on your transcript will say "online" or "distance." The only way they would know is if the course description says that a virtual lab was included.

It actually depends on the school. I have had online courses that contained suffixes on the transcript with OL, W, or IO. Some don't, and I'm thankful for that. For example, UC Berkeley will add a W to every online section which is beyond irritating and implies that it is not as good as the butt-in-seat version. I would make sure that the school's transcript will obfuscate whether it was the online science lab section before taking the class to ensure maximum portability.

[sanantone]

It actually depends on the school. I have had online courses that contained suffixes on the transcript with OL, W, or IO. Some don't, and I'm thankful for that. For example, UC Berkeley will add a W to every online section which is beyond irritating and implies that it is not as good as the butt-in-seat version. I would make sure that the school's transcript will obfuscate whether it was the online science lab section before taking the class to ensure maximum portability.

My guess is that most schools don't differentiate between their online and on ground courses. UC Berkeley has an extension school, so its courses have a special code. A lot of schools have their course schedule online where you can see the course code.

[cookderosa]

Thank you for the great feedback. It sounds like we have a fair amount of wiggle room. Once I have a "plan" mapped out, I'll definitely share it with you. Right now, I'm just trying to get a feel for how tight the requirements are.

Jennifer - yes, dual enrolment community college is an option. After reading your books, I started checking into this, but I think this would be for later down the road. There are just so many ways to skin this cat. Right now the kiddos like school with mom (we had negative experiences with public school which makes community college a hard sell right now), and we travel extensively. So flexibility is key. But I have community college on a back burner. Also, we're probably moving to Europe after highschool graduation which means I need to make sure I have all my ducks in a row, and that our homeschool transcript meets European university requirements, if my sons choose to pursue higher education. An associates degree would add significant credibility to homeschool education.

I'm not selling community college-- just factoring it in if you had planned to use it. For what it's worth, dual enrollment can frequently be completed as a distance learning student, so no campus visits required! If this is free in your state, you can enroll and transfer them into TESU.

My advice is to work backwards. Create a template with the European university requirements you're considering, and then work your way out into a high school planner. For example, if foreign language is in the plan, I'd set it for all 4 years and then during senior year take a language exam. Other subjects that are cumulative are English and Math. Everything else stands alone, and can be put in and pulled out as you like.

Good luck!

EDIT to add: plan the diploma. When the diploma is planned, match in credit options. The diploma is time-sensitive, but they have their entire lives to earn a degree. An example of where this is trouble, is science. As you're finding, testing out of sciences or doing distance learning sciences for COLLEGE CREDIT can be a problem- but if you set it up for high school, then no one cares. If they graduate high school with their diploma, they can then go on to take anything else they need (like butt in seat science) once they are degree seeking.

[abt123go]

I think I should have mentioned that I had attached documents with the plans to fulfill TESC/HS requirements in my earlier post today. One of the people who responded to my first post suggested that I provide this. I've reattached these files for viewing. The first part of the doc shows the high school plan. If you scroll down through the files you'll see how I plan to fulfill the TESC credits for Associates Degrees. I'm looking specifically for feedback on whether this could potentially work.

Thanks again!

[bluebooger]

...How would a school know if you completed a lab by distance if you attended a school that has a campus? Nothing on your transcript will say "online" or "distance." The only way they would know is if the course description says that a virtual lab was included.

won't the transcript say the name of the school ?
if it has 3 or 4 schools on it and they're located in different states its got to look strange

[dfrecore]

I think I should have mentioned that I had attached documents with the plans to fulfill TESC/HS requirements in my earlier post today. One of the people who responded to my first post suggested that I provide this. I've reattached these files for viewing. The first part of the doc shows the high school plan. If you scroll down through the files you'll see how I plan to fulfill the TESC credits for Associates Degrees. I'm looking specifically for feedback on whether this could potentially work.

Thanks again!

Here are the issues I see with Plan 1:
1) Statistics is Math, not science. Even if you think they should learn it, there is no way you can put it in as a science course
2) With the AOS is math, ALL of the courses have to be math - no science courses allowed. So you need to have the AOS be natural sciences, if they will allow it. If not, then I'm not sure what you do, since you don't want Biology.

Here are the issues I see with Plan 2:
1) Precalculus and Algebra II/Trig are the same course. College Algebra is basically Algebra I & II, while Precalc is basically Trig/Analytic Geometry (kind of). I don't think you need to spend 2 years on this.
2) With the AOS is computer science, ALL of the courses have to be computer science - no science courses allowed. There are exams for that, but they won't be covered in your school plan as listed.

I'm thinking that with the courses you have here, you should switch to the BALS for both kids. It just doesn't make a lot of sense to do the ASNSM for them, without the courses that TESU requires. Honestly, with an AA, I don't think it matters a lot anyway. You're just showing legitimacy for high school. And since you're deciding on the courses you're taking, if they want to do a BA in something later, the courses will count towards the requirements they need anyway. In this particular case, I just don't think which degree you choose makes much of a difference.

[Mamasaphire]

Plus, if the boys chose to continue with TESC for a BS, that's always an option.

Sounds like a fun few years of learning coming up! Welcome to the forum!

I want to mention (I'm sure you'd have figured this out soon) that TESC is now actually known as TESU. It became Thomas Edison State University not too long ago

[abt123go]

That was exactly the kind of feedback I was looking for. Now I can make amends to our plans that are more realistic! Thank you for your guidance. I truly appreciate it.

[cookderosa]

My guess is that most schools don't differentiate between their online and on ground courses. UC Berkeley has an extension school, so its courses have a special code. A lot of schools have their course schedule online where you can see the course code.

My classes at Ocean County College have either an O or D or similar in the alpha-numeric. BIO122D or similar - they are distinguished by the "D" as meaning online.

[TrailRunr]

My guess is that most schools don't differentiate between their online and on ground courses. UC Berkeley has an extension school, so its courses have a special code. A lot of schools have their course schedule online where you can see the course code.

The regular UC Berkeley campus adds the W scarlet letter as well for online sections. You really have to check before taking a class at school XYZ if online is going to be a problem.

Without getting derailed too much, here is my opinion for the OP:

1) Assume that online science lab classes and science exams including AP will need to be retaken sometime down the road unless the boys develop non-STEM interests.
2) The preferred form of credit is either AP or community college/4 yr uni for maximum portability. I'd change everything non-AP to AP if they can handle it. I know AP is tough, so that may not be the best idea. For non-science labs, online community college/4 yr uni is fine. CLEP is way back in second place for portability. DSST, SL, ALEKS, etc are worthless at almost all colleges and universities. All suggested courses are fine for high school enrichment purposes, as long as you're aware of the transfer limitations for anything not AP or community college/4 yr.

There was a poster some time back that said he wished he took credits that were more portable. Since the boys are so young, that is more likely to be an issue down the road than for most of us here who are simply looking for checkbox degrees.