Looking for Recommendations/Advice for Newbie

[jdavism]

Hi everyone,

Hoping that some of you can give me some advice/recommendations. I've been doing tons of research but there are still some things I don't understand. After a lot of research I had decided to try to get into WGU. They denied me because I didn't have college transfers which might have been a good thing because now I seem to have found some other (better?) alternatives. I'm just trying to put the puzzle pieces together.

I actually posted a year ago, but ended up getting hit by a car and was on disability a while (long story) and wasn't in position to start back again until now.

Anyway, my goal is simply this.. to obtain a B.S degree in BA in the fastest possible method. (I obviously understand that the speed is really on me, not the program) I'm looking for something self-paced that I can do on my own. After getting denied at WGU I ended up learning more about TESC and Straighterline. Now my thought process is to take as many classes through Staighterline as possible then transfer then to TESC and figure out the best way to finish from there.

Where are start to get confused is figuring out the best way to do that, should I just start taking Straighterline courses and enroll in TESC after I've completed everything I can toward a BS degree in BA? Or should I enroll first and transfer as I go? I've also have seen several posts about sending Strighterline courses through ACE? I'm unclear what that means/benefits etc.

The other extremely stupid question Im looking for is regarding getting textbooks to study for these courses etc. Is there just a standard for the courses regardless of the class/university? I know I've read to buy them used from Amazon etc. Is the best way to "cram" these courses to just read the textbooks, take quizzes/exams as you go? I honest "don't know what I don't know". I've never taken a college class so I really don't know "how" to do it or what to expect. I've self-studied and passed A+, Net+ and CCNA but that's been 12 years ago at this point but the path was pretty straight forward for those. Trying to match up classes for a degree, seeing what will transfer, trying to figure how the best place TO transfer to and then finish seems very confusing to me.

Any advice/recommendations would be appreciated.

[jdavism]

Just a few follow up questions, I apologize for the add-on. So just to summarize how to attack a course, when looking at the syllabus (Take Intro to Business for example) https://s3.amazonaws.com/StraighterLine/...siness.pdf

It lists out the topics, then gives a chart showing the lay out of quizzes/mid-terms/final etc. When it says Topic 3, I assume that it is indicating that it's a quiz on content for topics 1-3. In the case of this course would the topic correlate to chapters in the book? Then I assume the mid-term will test up to topics 1-7, and then the final will be topics 1-15?

I know, stupid questions but keep in mind I've never taken college courses

[sanantone]

Are you talking about the BSBA aka Bachelor of Science in Business Administration at TESC? If you don't plan on taking any courses or many TECEPs from TESC, then the Enrolled Options Plan is the best. You pay almost $3,000 to be enrolled for a year. That is why it is best to complete all or most of your credits before you enroll. You don't want to unnecessarily pay for more than one year.

Most of Straighterline's courses consist of quizzes and tests. Some will have writing assignments (English Comp) and labs (science courses). Each course will have a recommended textbook. The quizzes are supposed to line up with the chapters in the textbook, but some people have complained that the quizzes sometimes cover chapters that weren't supposed to be covered yet. Straighterline courses are accepted for credit because they have been evaluated and approved by ACE for college credit. You can put the credits on an ACE transcript as a backup, but since TESC is a partner with Straighterline, you can just have SL send a transcript directly to TESC.

I made a test out plan for TESC's BSBA in General Management.
TESC Degree Plans - Degree Forum Wiki

The rest of the degree forum wiki can help you become more familiar with other credit options.
Degree Forum Wiki

[jdavism]

Are you talking about the BSBA aka Bachelor of Science in Business Administration at TESC? If you don't plan on taking any courses or many TECEPs from TESC, then the Enrolled Options Plan is the best. You pay almost $3,000 to be enrolled for a year. That is why it is best to complete all or most of your credits before you enroll. You don't want to unnecessarily pay for more than one year.

Most of Straighterline's courses consist of quizzes and tests. Some will have writing assignments (English Comp) and labs (science courses). Each course will have a recommended textbook. The quizzes are supposed to line up with the chapters in the textbook, but some people have complained that the quizzes sometimes cover chapters that weren't supposed to be covered yet. Straighterline courses are accepted for credit because they have been evaluated and approved by ACE for college credit. You can put the credits on an ACE transcript as a backup, but since TESC is a partner with Straighterline, you can just have SL send a transcript directly to TESC.

I made a test out plan for TESC's BSBA in General Management.
TESC Degree Plans - Degree Forum Wiki

The rest of the degree forum wiki can help you become more familiar with other credit options.
Degree Forum Wiki

Hi, thanks for the response. Yes, Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, since I really don't know what I'm getting into I think I'm going to sign up for the 10 courses for 1299 at Straighterline and choose the 11 core courses. (see below) I think by the time I finish these I'll have a good feel for what I've gotten myself into and then how to finish out the degree requirements from there. I think there are more courses on Straighterline past these 11 which are electives but I'll cross that bridge once done.

Does that sound like a reasonable plan?

English Comp 1
English Comp 2
College Algebra
Business Statistics
Econ 1
Econ 2
Business Ethics
Business Law
Acc 1
Acc 2
Principles of Management

[sanantone]

Your list includes a mixture of general education and business core courses, but those should be fine to begin with.

[Lindagerr]

I agree with Sanantone for most of the above. The only thing I would change is do not sign up for the 10 courses at straighterline yet. Since you have never taken a college course you may find out you don't like the straighterline method so I would suggest you just sign up and take one course and see how it goes before you spend the $1300. You might also try studying (read specific exam feedback on this forum for study materials) and take one CLEP or DSST(I have never bought a textbook for these) and see if you like that method better. When I started in 2006 I hadn't taken a college course in over 20 years, this forum helped me find that testing was the best method for me. Since then I have also tried ALEKS which worked well enough for me I don't think I could have tested out of a Math subject, I also took one straighterline course and I did not like it, I felt it took me more time then an exam would have. I also took one guided study and one on-line class at TESC I preferred the guided study I did not like having to do the discussion board work. So you need to find out what works best for you before you make any expensive decisions. Good Luck with your studies and congratulations on taking the steps to get started.

[jdavism]

I agree with Sanantone for most of the above. The only thing I would change is do not sign up for the 10 courses at straighterline yet. Since you have never taken a college course you may find out you don't like the straighterline method so I would suggest you just sign up and take one course and see how it goes before you spend the $1300. You might also try studying (read specific exam feedback on this forum for study materials) and take one CLEP or DSST(I have never bought a textbook for these) and see if you like that method better. When I started in 2006 I hadn't taken a college course in over 20 years, this forum helped me find that testing was the best method for me. Since then I have also tried ALEKS which worked well enough for me I don't think I could have tested out of a Math subject, I also took one straighterline course and I did not like it, I felt it took me more time then an exam would have. I also took one guided study and one on-line class at TESC I preferred the guided study I did not like having to do the discussion board work. So you need to find out what works best for you before you make any expensive decisions. Good Luck with your studies and congratulations on taking the steps to get started.

Thanks for the note, I think my problem is that I'm having trouble putting a plan together. Likely because of my overall lack of knowledge about college and completing degrees. For example, lets say I wanted to shoot for an AA in Business Administration first and looked at TESC requirements (Associate in Science in Business Administration Degree Program) How do I translate that into what exactly to CLEP, DSST, ALEKS, Strighterline, or FEMA credit for etc. Also, if you're doing it on so many different sources how do you keep track? Create spreadsheet with all the requirements then just track it manually?

Also when it comes to CLEP/DSST testing etc, what do you use to prepare and gauge your readiness etc? I'm not against any options, I just feel a little intimidated by the CLEP/DSST options and with the retake time being 6 months it seems like I could really screw up.

Again, sorry for the silly questions. I'm trying to leave all options open.

[Lindagerr]

Your questions are not silly. You should see some of the questions I asked 6 years ago. First I think you should check out the Wiki links Sanantone gave you a lot of questions are answered there. Next I would say you should do some searching on this sight for more specific questions. Third I would suggest with that info and this equivalency info

Equivalencies by Area: http://degreeplanners.com/media/TESC_Equivalencies.pdf

Equivalencies by Course Number: http://degreeplanners.com/media/TESC..._By_Course.pdf

Sources: [URL="http://degreeplanners.com/media/Equivalency_Sources.html"]Equivalency Sources


You can make a plan and then have others here help you fine tune it.

Once you are ready to start studying for an exam join Instantcert (IC) and use the specific exam feedback and flashcards to help you know how and what to study for each exam.

I hope this makes things clearer

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[EI2HCB]

Amen to most of this, It's important to do a trial run with one of the courses at Straighterline. They have simulations you can try, putting money into something you haven't experienced or know will work for you may be a little hasty. We are all here to help one another so ask lots of questions. An example is Straigherline has a Western Civilization course that gets you 3 college credits and costs about $140 if you can do it in a month! if not you pay another $99 dollars as you work through it. However you could also find (with our help) some free resources that would allow you to take the Western Civilization CLEP test and get the same amount of credits for $100 and work at your own pace to do it.
I'm currently working on U.S history 1 in this way with some help from(this forum) and Instant cert and other resources too as are many others here. I've got two jobs and I run my own business and attend Excelsior on a half time basis so I'm busy but next week I take the test and hope to pass it all told for about $150 including my materials Its taken me a few months to get focused but you can do it too!

[ryoder]

I love Straighterline for what it is but you cannot beat CLEP and DSST tests for transferability. SL courses are ACE approved and many schools do not accept them. Yes TESC does but if you want to get into a MBA program after you graduate, the graduate school will most likely not recognize your undergrad SL courses and force you to take tons of remedial foundation courses at a high cost to you in time and money. That will not happen with CLEP and DSST credit.

So I would go grab some REA books from Amazon or your local library or book store and get to reading..

Resist the urge to study practice questions and test as soon as you are at 51% knowledge. Read the book and soak in the material. Most of the books are only 150 small pages and can be read in around 6 hours. I read many of mine on the elliptical.