Sociology Degree Plan Questions

[supermom]

We are totally new to this. My 16 year old son took his first CLEP test yesterday and scored well (American Government). He would like to get his degree in sociology, we think. Is TESC the best place to get that degree? I was looking at the credit distribution for that degree at TESC and have some questions.

There are about 20 Sociology Electives listed at TESC. DO we have to find a test specifically called each one of those titles, or can other things be substituted for them? Can something like "Business Law" or "Criminal Justice" work for "Sociology of Law"? I saw mention of FEMA tests. Can those be used as Sociology electives? If so, how can I know for sure before we go to the trouble of taking the courses? Do the colleges publish this somewhere? Can I just call the college and ask if those tests can pass for a "Sociology elective", or is that not the way you do it?

Does anyone have a plan for testing out completely for a sociology degree?

They say one college level mathematics course required. What is the lowest level math course called which will work for that requirement? I'm looking at ALEKs, but not sure how it all works yet. "Beginning Algebra" on ALEKs has 2 asterisks meaning it is approved by ACE, I think, but surely "Beginning Algebra" does not meet the total math requirement for a degree? I thought that was middle school work, so am confused as to why it has 2 asterisks on the ALEKS list of courses.

12 hours of "Humanities" is required. I know there is a Humanities CLEP to cover 6 hours. How do we fulfill the other 6 hours?

Sorry so many questions. This is really a lot to try to take in for a newbie.
Thanks!
Monica

[CLEP101]

Hi Monica,
Welcome to the forum. I have to say that I have seen longer post with fewer questions than this. :roflol:
I don't know anyone here that has a Sociology degree specifically. Do you want to test out of it? There isn't enough exams out there to test out of a Sociology degree. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

There are about 20 Sociology Electives listed at TESC. DO we have to find a test specifically called each one of those titles, or can other things be substituted for them?

Sociology electives means you have to find courses or exams that fall under the Sociology category, not necessarily named exactly like the list you saw in the credit distribution. However you have to check with the school to make sure the courses or exams you plan to take somewhere else are approved as “Sociology electives”.

Can something like "Business Law" or "Criminal Justice" work for "Sociology of Law"?

Probably not, it has to be Sociology related.

I saw mention of FEMA tests. Can those be used as Sociology electives?

No, FEMA tests are only used as free electives, unless you are going for a BS in Homeland Security where I believe you can use 15 as part of the concentration.

Do the colleges publish this somewhere? Can I just call the college and ask if those tests can pass for a "Sociology elective", or is that not the way you do it?

More than likely the college will not be too friendly unless you are enrolled in the school. Sad fact.

Does anyone have a plan for testing out completely for a sociology degree?

Probably not. But you can check into a Psychology degree, History Degree, Liberal Arts Degree or Social Science Degree to name a few that you can probably test out of completely.

They say one college level mathematics course required. What is the lowest level math course called which will work for that requirement?

Although some ALEKS math will not count as credit, most of them do like Intermediate Algebra. It doesn’t have to be College Algebra. You can also take the CLEP College Mathematics that is worth 6 semester hours. Hopefully someone that has gone the ALEKS route can add to this.

12 hours of "Humanities" is required. I know there is a Humanities CLEP to cover 6 hours. How do we fulfill the other 6 hours?

This can be fulfilled by any subject the fall under the Humanities category like Literature, speech, foreign language, writing courses, art, etc.
I’m attaching the CLEP and DSST list that TESC accepts and separates them into the different categories for you and gives them Course equivalencies.

Make sure you check out this thread and use the search feature for you questions. Someone has already posted about everything you're probably looking for.
http://www.degreeforum.net/general-educa...sking.html

Hope this helps a bit,
Welcome to the forum

[supermom]

That information was very helpful. I don't really see a reason why he shouldn't go with a Social Sciences degree instead of a Sociology degree if he can test out of the SS completely.

Thank you.
Monica

[Merlin]

Although some ALEKS math will not count as credit, most of them do like Intermediate Algebra. It doesn’t have to be College Algebra. You can also take the CLEP College Mathematics that is worth 6 semester hours. Hopefully someone that has gone the ALEKS route can add to this.

I can't speak for TESC, but I know that COSC accepts Beginning Algebra (1 credit) and Intermediate Algebra (3 credits) but neither fulfills the math GE requirements. They do accept College Algebra as 3 credits towards the college level math requirement, as well as the College Mathematics CLEP as 6 credits towards the GE requirement. Either of which is usually enough for non-technical concentrations.

Looking at the TESC website, the BA in Sociology just requires 3 credits in college-level math, so I would think that ALEKS College Algebra course should meet that requirement. I don't think Intermediate would (it will probably be worth 3 free electives though), and I can pretty much guarantee they won't accept Beginning Algebra towards anything, since most schools consider it an algebra refresher class, which is usually a non-credit class.

[sanantone]

After I got an evaluation, TESC answered all of my questions before I enrolled.

TESC will more than likely not accept Business Law for Sociology of Law. It's not even considered a social science course. They did transcribe my Fundamentals of Criminal Law course (criminal justice) as a social science course, but I don't think it would fulfill a sociology requirement.

The course names don't have to be the same, they just need similar course descriptions. You should get prior approval before you take anything, but that might require enrollment.

There is a big difference between sociology and social science. Your son should decide on what he wants to do. Social Science is a very broad subject. You can complete the whole program without taking one sociology or behavioral science course. If he's interested in that area, he should mostly or only fill the social science area of study with sociology, psychology, criminal justice, social work, human services, and counseling credits. History, anthropology, geography, and political science aren't going to lead him to the same types of jobs in most cases unless he's looking to work for the federal government.

Intermediate Algebra will fulfill the math requirement. I'm using it for my social science degree. I believe Intermediate Algebra is accepted for every degree program that is not business, science, and mathematics related.

[supermom]

Thank you for your input, SanAntone. He is interested in going into politics so we are hoping the Social Science degree will help him.