Advice needed fastest path to a degree

[dfrecore]

If you took AP exams and passed, then most schools will give you college credit for that. Some schools do it one way, though, and some schools do it a different way.

At TESU, if you send them your AP scores, they will actually give you credit for those classes. So you definitely need to do that. Because they will not let you get out of the English 101/102 requirement.

At UW, they just give you a waiver and then let you take higher level courses. Less common, and less helpful. It's much better to actually get the credit and have those requirements completed.

So, especially if you have a lot of AP credit, you want to go to a school that actually gives credit for it (knocking down your 120cr that you need), not a waiver (which still requires the full 120cr be taken, but at a higher level).

[tman7479]

I see what you mean, the waiver just winds up with you taking higher level classes instead of the easier ones.
Thanks for the info

If you took AP exams and passed, then most schools will give you college credit for that. Some schools do it one way, though, and some schools do it a different way.

At TESU, if you send them your AP scores, they will actually give you credit for those classes. So you definitely need to do that. Because they will not let you get out of the English 101/102 requirement.

At UW, they just give you a waiver and then let you take higher level courses. Less common, and less helpful. It's much better to actually get the credit and have those requirements completed.

So, especially if you have a lot of AP credit, you want to go to a school that actually gives credit for it (knocking down your 120cr that you need), not a waiver (which still requires the full 120cr be taken, but at a higher level).

[rebel100]

COSC

Will require the General Eds be met along with 30 UL credits with at least 18 of those credits (including the Capstone) within a single field of study.

I doubt the Computer Science is the road, they have specific requirements for that.

Gen Eds Needed:
Cornerstone COSC $1200
English Comp 1 and 2….I would probably look at Straighterline (SL) English Comp1 then take the DSST Technical Writing Exam for Comp 2 (only COSC takes Tech Writing this way as far as I know). $200-$300
Speech…if you have ever given a speech in front of folks you can probably get this waived. You will need something to substantiate the experience. A letter form an employer or someone that knows you, a program with your name, a recorded speech….it’s actually pretty easy to get the waiver. $0
Ethics….I like the DSST Business Ethics as it counts both as Ethics and its Upper level $100 (and fits UL too)
You need 3 more credits in Natural Science, with your Physics/w lab that would bring you to the required 7 credits. SL Biology would be the easy pick, and CLEP or DSST Science would work. $150
https://www.charteroak.edu/catalog/curre...ements.cfm

Organizational leadership is a concentration with plenty of utility. Things like your BUS 311 can be made to fit. The DSST Business Ethics from above is another three credits. The Capstone is 3 credits bringing you to 9 and only needing 9 more in that category Human Resources DSST (3), Organizational Behavior DSST 93) and Fundamentals of Cyber Security could likely round out the concentration…there are options with TECEP, Uexcel, and Penn Foster Classes as well. 18 UL credits in Org Leadership is what you are shooting for. DSST cost $400-$500, Capstone $1200
This leaves 18 UL credits needed. Classics 370 (UL) and Compsci 302 amd Music 327 can likely fit as UL electives….but you need to craft 9-12 of these into a second concentration. It doesn’t have to get to fancy, just has to make some sense together. Psychology has plenty of test out options, TECEP can be included, other exams. Penn Foster has a couple of HR courses…$500 or so here
Your 99 credits plus the 30 or so added from above takes you over the 120 required. And could probably be done for $3000 to $4000 total cost……Pell could be used for some UL at CSU-Pueblo or other college offering UL coursework.

Master list of Exams COSC https://www.charteroak.edu/catalog/curre...amlist.pdf


This is just of the top of my head…..

Good Luck,
Mike

[cookderosa]

The only problem with me doing any more work at a CC is you can't have more than 150% of the credits for an AA and do any sort of student aid. So since I am at 99 credits I can't use the Pell at a CC as far as I know. You can do up to 180 credits at a 4 year university. (150%).

Your Pell will hardly cover 1 class at TESU, if you attend TESU full time, you'll have to go into debt to do it and pay enormous tuition- seems silly when you can cash flow a degree from TESU pretty easily over a year or so. Tests are usually under $200, so that's what I mean by cash flowing your degree. Study- pay - test - repeat. I paid for my BA using coins in a jar, not exaggerating.

TESU will award full value for any and every AP exam you earned 3 or higher.

They also have a policy in their current college catalog- you'll have to check, I've only got a second before I'm leaving for vacation lol, but if you complete a higher class (Calc 2) you can be given automatic credit for Calc 1 - now I don't know anyone who has done that, but it's written in their catalog, so you can and should ask for it.

Depending on what you choose, you can possibly test out of your upper levels. The difference between fast and VERY fast in the test out world is months, not years. Slow here is 2 years for a 4 year degree. Fast is a year or less lol, so when you say fast, it's all fast here.

When you choose your degree, know that some won't have test out options, so you'd have to take a full length class- others here more current on degree planning can help with that, but some are more test-friendly than others. How you fill those remaining credits it the trick.

One last thing, when people have no to little credit, the world is their oyster. Since you already have a LOT of credit, my advice is to pay the application and transcript fees, get an evaluation by TESU and see where you are. You only have a handful of classes/tests left, you wouldn't want to make a mistake at this stage.

Good luck and welcome!

[dfrecore]

The only problem with me doing any more work at a CC is you can't have more than 150% of the credits for an AA and do any sort of student aid. So since I am at 99 credits I can't use the Pell at a CC as far as I know. You can do up to 180 credits at a 4 year university. (150%).

Find a much less expensive 4-yr school to go to, or else give up the Pell. You are robbing Peter to pay Paul, only worse. You're going to enroll in an expensive school for $9000 to get $1500 in a Pell Grant! You need to find a school that is close to $1500 for semester.

Not sure if you were willing to do a competency-based degree like WGU or Patten or something like that, but those are good to check into. WGU is $2,890/6-month term, and with the credits you have, you might be able to swing a BA in Business or BSIT at WGU within that time period. It's worth checking into.

The one thing you need to remember with WGU is that after you apply and get your evaluation, you are then allowed to go and grab some inexpensive credits (they accept lots of ACE credit, are a SL partner school, will take AP/CLEP/DSST, etc.). So you could see what they give you, grab inexpensive credits to fill out the LL requirements, and then enroll and get the last of what you need. BUT, if you apply, get your eval, and then enroll, you cannot get any additional credits outside of WGU. So make sure you don't enroll until you have all of the inexpensive credits you can get.

You want to make sure that you are able to finish your degree in that 6-mo term, because if you have to go over, it's another $2,890 and you've just made it more expensive than TESU rather than less.

[TrailRunr]

They also have a policy in their current college catalog- you'll have to check, I've only got a second before I'm leaving for vacation lol, but if you complete a higher class (Calc 2) you can be given automatic credit for Calc 1 - now I don't know anyone who has done that, but it's written in their catalog, so you can and should ask for it.

I talked to one of the TESU counselors about this. This is intended for instances when a placement test (or self study) allows a student to pass a higher course and skip the lower one. You get a waiver for the requirement, but you don't get credit which is what you want. This could be a backdoor method to minimizing credits for financial aid or the double major 9-credit overlap rule.

[tman7479]

Thanks for the tip about passing a higher level class and getting credit for a lower level one. I'll try to track down that policy. I did pay the $75 app fee and I've been admitted and they have 2 of my 4 transcripts already. The 2 Universities I went too sent them fast and the 2 CC's I went to seem to be on no set time frame to send out a transcript. I ordered one from MATC to TESU about 3 weeks ago and it still hasn't shown up.

I definitely can't afford the TESU tuition being out of sate. I'm going to try and pay for tests, etc. with some extra money out of my paychecks and I'm going to start putting money aside to pay the residency fee.

I'm definitely excited about this route because i thought I was going to lose a lot of credit (for example Patten did an evaluation and only gave me 30 provisional credits out of my 99).

I will post an update after I get my evaluation back from TESU and I'm considering applying to CO too.

Thanks.

Your Pell will hardly cover 1 class at TESU, if you attend TESU full time, you'll have to go into debt to do it and pay enormous tuition- seems silly when you can cash flow a degree from TESU pretty easily over a year or so. Tests are usually under $200, so that's what I mean by cash flowing your degree. Study- pay - test - repeat. I paid for my BA using coins in a jar, not exaggerating.

TESU will award full value for any and every AP exam you earned 3 or higher.

They also have a policy in their current college catalog- you'll have to check, I've only got a second before I'm leaving for vacation lol, but if you complete a higher class (Calc 2) you can be given automatic credit for Calc 1 - now I don't know anyone who has done that, but it's written in their catalog, so you can and should ask for it.

Depending on what you choose, you can possibly test out of your upper levels. The difference between fast and VERY fast in the test out world is months, not years. Slow here is 2 years for a 4 year degree. Fast is a year or less lol, so when you say fast, it's all fast here.

When you choose your degree, know that some won't have test out options, so you'd have to take a full length class- others here more current on degree planning can help with that, but some are more test-friendly than others. How you fill those remaining credits it the trick.

One last thing, when people have no to little credit, the world is their oyster. Since you already have a LOT of credit, my advice is to pay the application and transcript fees, get an evaluation by TESU and see where you are. You only have a handful of classes/tests left, you wouldn't want to make a mistake at this stage.

Good luck and welcome!

[tman7479]

I applied at Patten and they offered only 30 provisional credits out of my 99. It is a bit hard because they have very specific courses you have to take to get the degree and no electives.

I have also applied at WGU and NAU (Northern Arizona State University), and Capella. All three have the competency based degree paths. UW Milwaukee does as well. In addition a place called Brandman in California does too. Miwaukee has an advertisement saying someone earned 33 credits there in like 3 months for a flat fee and finished their degree. I did apply at Milwaukee previously but they wanted me to pay around $150 to take an English placement exam and I never got around to it since it needed to be done at an actual test center versus online.

I basically have to wait and see how they all accept my transfer credits and see if any of those competency programs might come in at a lower cost than TESU.

Find a much less expensive 4-yr school to go to, or else give up the Pell. You are robbing Peter to pay Paul, only worse. You're going to enroll in an expensive school for $9000 to get $1500 in a Pell Grant! You need to find a school that is close to $1500 for semester.

Not sure if you were willing to do a competency-based degree like WGU or Patten or something like that, but those are good to check into. WGU is $2,890/6-month term, and with the credits you have, you might be able to swing a BA in Business or BSIT at WGU within that time period. It's worth checking into.

The one thing you need to remember with WGU is that after you apply and get your evaluation, you are then allowed to go and grab some inexpensive credits (they accept lots of ACE credit, are a SL partner school, will take AP/CLEP/DSST, etc.). So you could see what they give you, grab inexpensive credits to fill out the LL requirements, and then enroll and get the last of what you need. BUT, if you apply, get your eval, and then enroll, you cannot get any additional credits outside of WGU. So make sure you don't enroll until you have all of the inexpensive credits you can get.

You want to make sure that you are able to finish your degree in that 6-mo term, because if you have to go over, it's another $2,890 and you've just made it more expensive than TESU rather than less.

[dfrecore]

I applied at Patten and they offered only 30 provisional credits out of my 99. It is a bit hard because they have very specific courses you have to take to get the degree and no electives.

I have also applied at WGU and NAU (Northern Arizona State University), and Capella. All three have the competency based degree paths. UW Milwaukee does as well. In addition a place called Brandman in California does too. Miwaukee has an advertisement saying someone earned 33 credits there in like 3 months for a flat fee and finished their degree. I did apply at Milwaukee previously but they wanted me to pay around $150 to take an English placement exam and I never got around to it since it needed to be done at an actual test center versus online.

I basically have to wait and see how they all accept my transfer credits and see if any of those competency programs might come in at a lower cost than TESU.

Don't forget to send your AP scores as well. Those are as good as your transcripts.

[tman7479]

Thanks for the info Mike.

I'm definitely going to look into Charter Oak now.

Tony

COSC

Will require the General Eds be met along with 30 UL credits with at least 18 of those credits (including the Capstone) within a single field of study.

I doubt the Computer Science is the road, they have specific requirements for that.

Gen Eds Needed:
Cornerstone COSC $1200
English Comp 1 and 2….I would probably look at Straighterline (SL) English Comp1 then take the DSST Technical Writing Exam for Comp 2 (only COSC takes Tech Writing this way as far as I know). $200-$300
Speech…if you have ever given a speech in front of folks you can probably get this waived. You will need something to substantiate the experience. A letter form an employer or someone that knows you, a program with your name, a recorded speech….it’s actually pretty easy to get the waiver. $0
Ethics….I like the DSST Business Ethics as it counts both as Ethics and its Upper level $100 (and fits UL too)
You need 3 more credits in Natural Science, with your Physics/w lab that would bring you to the required 7 credits. SL Biology would be the easy pick, and CLEP or DSST Science would work. $150
https://www.charteroak.edu/catalog/curre...ements.cfm

Organizational leadership is a concentration with plenty of utility. Things like your BUS 311 can be made to fit. The DSST Business Ethics from above is another three credits. The Capstone is 3 credits bringing you to 9 and only needing 9 more in that category Human Resources DSST (3), Organizational Behavior DSST 93) and Fundamentals of Cyber Security could likely round out the concentration…there are options with TECEP, Uexcel, and Penn Foster Classes as well. 18 UL credits in Org Leadership is what you are shooting for. DSST cost $400-$500, Capstone $1200
This leaves 18 UL credits needed. Classics 370 (UL) and Compsci 302 amd Music 327 can likely fit as UL electives….but you need to craft 9-12 of these into a second concentration. It doesn’t have to get to fancy, just has to make some sense together. Psychology has plenty of test out options, TECEP can be included, other exams. Penn Foster has a couple of HR courses…$500 or so here
Your 99 credits plus the 30 or so added from above takes you over the 120 required. And could probably be done for $3000 to $4000 total cost……Pell could be used for some UL at CSU-Pueblo or other college offering UL coursework.

Master list of Exams COSC https://www.charteroak.edu/catalog/curre...amlist.pdf


This is just of the top of my head…..

Good Luck,
Mike