Now I realize why so many of you went for 2nd Bachelors! (TESC Enrollment Fee)

[CollegeStudent7]

You're moving the goal post. Watch:

while not enrolled, earn all but 6 credits over the course of x months. Pay enrollment. Finish 6 credits and graduate.

or

while not enrolled, earn all but 6 credits over the course of x months. Pay enrollment. Finish 6 credits. Don't graduate. Earn 30 new credits ($) spend an additional 8 months at TESC. Graduate with a double major in a significantly different area.

Couple things- if you go with liberal arts first, your only choices for a second degree are business, technical studies, or nursing. If you go with math/nat science first, your choices include anything from the humanities or social science.

You can't get 2 degrees if you graduate, that ends your first enrollment and you pay a graduation fee. This works if you go from an associate to bachelor, but with your bachelor to bachelor you're going to need to do a double major or get 1 degree.

IMO this is a bad, long, expensive idea. This is not why so many go for a second bachelors, in fact, I don't know that so many do. I can probably count the people here (who have done that) on my fingers.

Ooooohhh! I see. Now I must look like a dumb-dumb. I was thinking the enrollment fee was just covered for an entire year, regardless if I graduated with a BA, Liberal Studies.

This is why I wanted a BA, Liberal Studies. I thought it was something I could finish quickly and then take my time completing a "better" BA while within my enrollment period. I thought I could finish that and pretty much go for any other BA after that. Argh, so complicated. Just when I think I figured out something brililant, there ends up being a ton of rules to it.

I just thought I could finish a BALS quicker than my NatSci/Math degree and then just take my time completing that. The LS CLEP choices are "easier", per se and I thought I could graduate a "semester" early.

Well Yen, looks like I'll just be sticking to my one major and looking at a graduation of December (at earliest). I guess I will just continue to temp until then and job seek later on.

[burbuja0512]

I think most people here that go for a 2nd bachelors do so for one of two reasons:

1) They are addicted to testing and didn't quite get their fill of it from a single degree

2) They have left-over credits and find that with just a little more effort, they can get something to show for those additional credits



There are other reasons, but that's what I've seen here for the most part. Please keep in mind that in most cases a second undergrad will not greatly benefit your career nearly as much as a masters degree. This isn't always true, but for the most part it is. So... I guess if you want to do a 2nd bachelors for fun and learning, then go for it, but definitely don't think about it yet until you're close to wrapping up the first one. Then you'll want to figure out if you would rather start off on a second undergrad or go directly to the graduate degree.

[CollegeStudent7]

Thanks for your straightforwardness Y. I can always count on you to give it to me "real". As you see from what I posted above, my 2nd degree would be something that I can do at my own leisure. The quicker I complete my first BA, the more time I have left to complete my 2nd. I need my 1st BA simply as something to slap on my resume. It will help me earn more, quicker, and actually pay off :-D.

**No, this isn't how it works.

So my idea was to complete all the needed credits for something like Liberal Studies or Psychology (as I heard you can test out of all of those) and when I'm 1-2 courses away (probably within 2-3 weeks of being complete) I'll pay my enrollment fee, graduation fees, all fees...etc ..etc. so that I can graduate. From that point I'll have almost an entire year to complete a 2nd Bachelors.

***No, they need to be different fields, you can't do liberal arts with a liberal art.

That's where I'm coming from. I hope that makes sense. I figure that another 24 credits will cost me, at most, 4k total with fees and everything and I'm totally ok with that.

***I'm pretty sure it's 30, but I could be wrong on that.

Another spin to this..I actually qualify for Financial Aid for the year of 2011. I realize I have to take 6 credits to get some of it, so I'm going to do the math on everything, extra money I could be making, time factor and see how things weigh out. If the classes last 12 weeks, that wouldn't be too bad, but I would have to start them within the next month. Gotta look at TESC's schedule.

[COLOR="red"]You "could" do a double major instead. That way it's under 1 enrollment fee. When you say financial aid, I hope you mean a grant not a loan? Otherwise you're going into debt for a second degree when you could be in grad school (much higher yield).
ALSO, please note that you're only going to get 1/4 of your $. They only award $ for the semesters inwhich you are enrolled. If you complete 1 semester (6 credits) you get only 1/4 of the award. You need to enroll for a full year (6*4) to get the full award.
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Hi cooked!

yes, it's a pell grant. it looks like i'll get $1,375 which pretty much would just cover my 6 credits of classes and some nonimal fees. i'll basically be responsible for paying that enrollment of about $2,700. So I take that and add about another $2,300 to finish my other 39 credits and this degree will have cost 5k to finish...from my guess.

thanks for all your advice. i wish tesc was a little more clear. i have searched and navigated within their website and some things are just not crystal clear. thank goodness i have you!

[CollegeStudent7]

I think most people here that go for a 2nd bachelors do so for one of two reasons:

1) They are addicted to testing and didn't quite get their fill of it from a single degree

2) They have left-over credits and find that with just a little more effort, they can get something to show for those additional credits



There are other reasons, but that's what I've seen here for the most part. Please keep in mind that in most cases a second undergrad will not greatly benefit your career nearly as much as a masters degree. This isn't always true, but for the most part it is. So... I guess if you want to do a 2nd bachelors for fun and learning, then go for it, but definitely don't think about it yet until you're close to wrapping up the first one. Then you'll want to figure out if you would rather start off on a second undergrad or go directly to the graduate degree.

I would totally take a year to finish up a BA Mathematics just for the fun of it, because I like learning,e tc. But from what I'm seeing, I wouldn't be able to pick up off from a BALS and that, over expenses, would concern me.

I guess it would be more of a pride thing too. I get the BALS just to slap it on my resume and apply for jobs (office support) and then later complete a BA Mathematics to 'exercise' my "smarts" :-D. However, from all the helpful information I have, it looks as though it would be highly unrealistic to do that.

From my guesses, it looks like this degree is going to cost me around 5k out of pocket and that's as much as I can afford for this year, anyway.Thanks as always burbuja.

[KyleH]

You didn't want a double major, did you? Pretty sure you were going for a SECOND major. In which case, I'm pretty sure your plan was possible. I think I agree with what the other posters said. This is a lot of work for a second degree that really won't open very many doors.

If you were to follow the Natural Science and Mathematics degree with a BSBA in Accounting, the BSBA would be unique enough that you'd benefit from it, and you can totally take your time to get it, as long as you don't mind paying a second tuition fee.

Just a thought.

[Yenisei]

CollegeStudent, I previously advised you to consider Empire State College for some Nat Sci UL credits, but I'd suggest some other options because their courses are very time-intensive.

You already have 4 UL from Microbiology, so how about....

3 from the Pathophysiology ECE
3 from the MIS DSST
3 from either the ECE Bioethics or Ohio U's Bioethics Credit-by-Exam
3 from ALEKS Business Statistics
3 from the Network Technology TECEP

Get approval from an advisor, but it may actually be possible to fully test out of the Nat Sci degree after all.

[CollegeStudent7]

You didn't want a double major, did you? Pretty sure you were going for a SECOND major. In which case, I'm pretty sure your plan was possible. I think I agree with what the other posters said. This is a lot of work for a second degree that really won't open very many doors.

If you were to follow the Natural Science and Mathematics degree with a BSBA in Accounting, the BSBA would be unique enough that you'd benefit from it, and you can totally take your time to get it, as long as you don't mind paying a second tuition fee.

Just a thought.

BSBA may just be something to consider after my 1st degree. Good point.

[CollegeStudent7]

CollegeStudent, I previously advised you to consider Empire State College for some Nat Sci UL credits, but I'd suggest some other options because their courses are very time-intensive.

You already have 4 UL from Microbiology, so how about....

3 from the Pathophysiology ECE
3 from the MIS DSST
3 from either the ECE Bioethics or Ohio U's Bioethics Credit-by-Exam
3 from ALEKS Business Statistics
3 from the Network Technology TECEP

Get approval from an advisor, but it may actually be possible to fully test out of the Nat Sci degree after all.

Communication is not so hot at TESC, but I'm going to email them this breakdown and try to catch them on the phone as well. It honestly may just be worth my time to test out completely because there doesn't seem to be a huge difference in using my measly $1,375 in FA vs. paying to test out--which is so cheap. Thank you Y!

[Yenisei]

Let us know if all of those suggestions work, especially the Network Technology TECEP and the ALEKS Business Statistics- I know a couple of people that would love to get that degree if they can test out completely.

[CollegeStudent7]

Let us know if all of those suggestions work, especially the Network Technology TECEP and the ALEKS Business Statistics- I know a couple of people that would love to get that degree if they can test out completely.

I'll let you know as soon as TESC gets it together and replies lol :-D