New to the forum, couple questions.

[dfrecore]

I was just setting up my student profile at TESU so I can apply, as I was just reading TESU makes their changes in April/July so better to apply sooner than later. One question I have is about evaluations, and that you only get two before you actually enroll and spend a significant amount of money. I only have 15 credits at this point. I've read different things like Dfrecore say she liked to send transcripts in frequently, so they don't make changes on you and your credits go where you want them to. But how does this work if you only get two evaluations?
Or is this a case of one being able to send in transcripts often and the school accepts the credits but will only apply those credits to the different parts of the degree plan twice before enrollment.
If that was barely coherent I'm just trying to avoid a situation in which I find myself with a bunch of worthless shmoop-like credits. I'd send em in after every course if that was an option.

Once you're an enrolled student, TESU will do unlimited evals; it's when you've applied but haven't yet enrolled that they limit the evals to 2.

Also, you want to make sure you're enrolled if you decide to do CLEP/DSST exams, because it's free to send them at the time of testing, and TESU won't apply them unless you're enrolled.

[ARhead]

Dfrecore - Thanks again.

LevelUp - I appreciate your post. I agree, when ones back is against a wall they can do incredible things. I tend to be an extreme perfectionist, and I don't like the thought of going into an exam with much possibility of failing. So far I've done Nutrition, Anthropology and American Gov., and mostly read the entire textbooks, but I've come to realize that is not an efficient way of going about it, because you can't retain all that information and I find many of the test questions are things I would have never remembered. For the time it takes to do that since you have to pay a monthly fee, it may be cheaper going faster and failing a course here and there.

[Lacedonia4]

Or is it that most of this forum and people all over youtube are hovering in the 200 IQ range to finish degree's in months or a year, or maybe I'm dumber than I thought.

Most people here are your typical high school B/C students. 

Don't let self-limiting beliefs hold you back.  People will often say I can't sing, dance, do math or speak a foreign language.   They say that because of previous bad experiences or/and they haven't been taught efficient learning techniques.

If you put someone in an extreme motivational situation like holding a gun to someone's head or offer them a million dollars do learn a skill you be surprised what someone could accomplish.

Now as far as SL is concerned, it is one of the easiest ways to earn credit because of the grading system.  If you average 80% on the quizzes, you need less than 50% on the final to pass.

With the open book quizzes in SL you need to use Ctr+C to copy and Ctr+V to paste.  Also, use "quotes string" to search for specific multiple word phrases.  It's how good you are at searching that will determine your success. 

What I did was go through the animated slides for each lesson, ignored the book and other materials and just took the quiz. For the first quiz, you can retake it as many times as you need.

For keeping track of time just focus on how many minutes it will take you for each lesson and take it one step at a time.  I am a believer in progress over perfection.  You learn by failing.

I so agree. I was terrified to restart after a long hiatus. Now I am more than halfway done with my AA and already planning on the classes for my Bachelor degree. My only regret is not having decided to do this sooner and not having found this forum until this year.

[bjcheung77]

Don't be afraid to start with StraighterLine/Study.com - for individuals who are far from a CLEP test center or want to complete their degree entirely online, these two providers are better as the final exams count for SL 30%, SDC ~33% or ~66% of the grade. The passing rate for SL/SDC is much higher than taking another provider.

Now, fast people one can complete the SL/SDC course depends on previous knowledge of the subject, if you can brain dump, and if you use the course materials effectively. For me, I have a laptop/second monitor, I use my SL/SDC on the laptop and the provided e-textbook on the second monitor, I do my courses quickly by copy/pasting my own "Coles Notes" of what I don't understand and review the chapter summaries/previous quizzes/exams/midterms, etc.

When the final comes, I remove my second monitor and do the proctored exam - voila, some are open book for SL, but it's always closed book for SDC, but I know my scores always high when I start the final. You just need 56% or higher to pass the course, as your quizzes and assignments will make up for the "boo boo/foo foo errors" you make in the final proctored exam.

An example of a quick course or two I did with SL is Medical Terminology and Pharmacology. I finished each course within a long weekend and scored a 99% final grade in each of the courses, both are open book final. All the answers are on the textbook.

Now an example of SDC, I finished their Computer Science 105 in a day as I did a few of their computer courses (CIS & CS), all of the course material was complete practically, I just did the final couple of quizzes, and did the final, I got 92% final grade (I didn't bother with getting 100% for my quizzes, I just went straight to finish it fast).

What I suggest people to do, is do the courses in groups that overlap - History I/II, Western Civ I/II etc, whatever that has a I/II or a continuation of the course, anything that already gets you up to par with the previous course, you can finish them faster as you will build on those topics. Don't fret over the courses, the first time you start, it is daunting until you complete that first course, the rest will become a breeze when you know the ropes and how to complete them.

[SCYankee]

I was just setting up my student profile at TESU so I can apply, as I was just reading TESU makes their changes in April/July so better to apply sooner than later. One question I have is about evaluations, and that you only get two before you actually enroll and spend a significant amount of money. I only have 15 credits at this point. I've read different things like Dfrecore say she liked to send transcripts in frequently, so they don't make changes on you and your credits go where you want them to. But how does this work if you only get two evaluations?
Or is this a case of one being able to send in transcripts often and the school accepts the credits but will only apply those credits to the different parts of the degree plan twice before enrollment.
If that was barely coherent I'm just trying to avoid a situation in which I find myself with a bunch of worthless shmoop-like credits. I'd send em in after every course if that was an option.

Once you're an enrolled student, TESU will do unlimited evals; it's when you've applied but haven't yet enrolled that they limit the evals to 2.

Also, you want to make sure you're enrolled if you decide to do CLEP/DSST exams, because it's free to send them at the time of testing, and TESU won't apply them unless you're enrolled.

Wait a minute... Have I been doing this wrong? I never signed up with TESU and always ask CLEP to "hold scores" at test time. Are you saying I need to sign up/enroll with tesu right now to start sending them scores? 

Can I finish all courses, and then send a transcript for eval, and there won't be any cost until then?

Not trying to hijack here; just want to clarify a point made.

[dfrecore]

I was just setting up my student profile at TESU so I can apply, as I was just reading TESU makes their changes in April/July so better to apply sooner than later. One question I have is about evaluations, and that you only get two before you actually enroll and spend a significant amount of money. I only have 15 credits at this point. I've read different things like Dfrecore say she liked to send transcripts in frequently, so they don't make changes on you and your credits go where you want them to. But how does this work if you only get two evaluations?
Or is this a case of one being able to send in transcripts often and the school accepts the credits but will only apply those credits to the different parts of the degree plan twice before enrollment.
If that was barely coherent I'm just trying to avoid a situation in which I find myself with a bunch of worthless shmoop-like credits. I'd send em in after every course if that was an option.

Once you're an enrolled student, TESU will do unlimited evals; it's when you've applied but haven't yet enrolled that they limit the evals to 2.

Also, you want to make sure you're enrolled if you decide to do CLEP/DSST exams, because it's free to send them at the time of testing, and TESU won't apply them unless you're enrolled.

Wait a minute... Have I been doing this wrong? I never signed up with TESU and always ask CLEP to "hold scores" at test time. Are you saying I need to sign up/enroll with tesu right now to start sending them scores? 

Can I finish all courses, and then send a transcript for eval, and there won't be any cost until then?

Not trying to hijack here; just want to clarify a point made.

So, there are 2 things here: 1) being able to send CLEP/DSST scores directly to a school rather than holding your scores, saving you time and money; and 2) deciding when to become an enrolled student at a school.

So, at TESU specifically, you should enroll immediately.  Always (although it did not used to be this way).  There are several reasons.

1) It's free to stay enrolled (no per-term or annual fees).

2) You lock in the catalog, and TESU changes their catalog (and the rules of the game) at least annually in July, but often also in April.  So, if you like your catalog, and want to keep it, you should enroll NOW.

3) Once you're enrolled and have all of your credits evaluated, they are locked in.  What that means is that if you take a course/exam, and TESU brings it in as UL (even if ACE says it's not), then if they decide later to downgrade that credit, you're exempt from changes - the course stays as is, thankfully.  Ask anyone who took LL Study.com courses that TESU decided to downgrade on Jan 1 of one year (maybe 2019?).  Everyone who had the courses on their eval got to keep them as UL.

4) You may get advance notice of changes, and get some time to transfer in courses.  For instance, back in 2015/16, TESU allowed BSBA students to take the Strategic Management capstone as a TECEP exam.  That was phased out, but everyone who was enrolled at that time got a certain amount of time to sign up and then complete the exam.  Around the same time, they allowed BSBA students to bring in the capstone course from Penn Foster, and it was only $350-ish to do.  Many people did this.  When they decided to stop allowing it, they gave enrolled students a heads-up, and they had a short window to enroll in the course, and then a deadline to complete it and bring it in.  If you were not already enrolled (or soon to become enrolled), then you did not get these options.

5) For TESU specifically, although this happens at all schools: your major may become one that the school no longer wants to offer, in which case if you're already enrolled, then you get to stay in that program; everyone else is out of luck.  This has happened many times in the last 9 years I've been on this forum, at all of the Big 3.

So, my suggestion at this point if you want to go to TESU - enroll now.  Reap the benefits of being an enrolled student.  Get those CLEP exams (and any other credits) posted to your eval.  Do it regularly (at least 2x annually).  Take a TECEP to stay enrolled (this is not a "fee" but rather an inexpensive way to extend your enrollment while getting credit for a course you need to take anyway).

[SCYankee]

Okay, thanks a lot. Here's what I got from that.
1. Enrolling is free.
2. There's no time limit to proceed further.
3. I should re-evaluate my credits at least twice per year.

EDIT:
4. I have to take a TECEP (once per year?) to stay enrolled?
5. And what's the difference between having applied and being enrolled? Is there a process of acceptance or something?

[ARhead]

I paid the $50 for what I assumed was enrollment, and I sent over my ACE credits, but my student ID still says "applicant". My guess is I have to choose the "per credit tuition plan" and then I'm enrolled. Am I correct on this?

....on the tesu website, it says to do so in "online student services", but I sure can't find it and what a jumbled mess of a layout that "tesu portal" is, holy hell. I'll just ask THEM where to find it, but if someone could tell me if I have my facts straight on how to enroll I'd appreciate it, thanks.

[SCYankee]

I paid the $50 for what I assumed was enrollment, and I sent over my ACE credits, but my student ID still says "applicant". My guess is I have to choose the "per credit tuition plan" and then I'm enrolled. Am I correct on this?

....on the tesu website, it says to do so in "online student services", but I sure can't find it and what a jumbled mess of a layout that "tesu portal" is, holy hell. I'll just ask THEM where to find it, but if someone could tell me if I have my facts straight on how to enroll I'd appreciate it, thanks.

I don't know either. I received an email saying my app was approved and that I should enroll. But I don't understand how to do that either, and don't know whether I should yet, if I'm going to need a take a TECEP to stay enrolled.

[allvia]

I paid the $50 for what I assumed was enrollment, and I sent over my ACE credits, but my student ID still says "applicant". My guess is I have to choose the "per credit tuition plan" and then I'm enrolled. Am I correct on this?

....on the tesu website, it says to do so in "online student services", but I sure can't find it and what a jumbled mess of a layout that "tesu portal" is, holy hell. I'll just ask THEM where to find it, but if someone could tell me if I have my facts straight on how to enroll I'd appreciate it, thanks.

I don't know either. I received an email saying my app was approved and that I should enroll. But I don't understand how to do that either, and don't know whether I should yet, if I'm going to need a take a TECEP to stay enrolled.

To become enrolled at TESU you need to either take a course (through them) or a TECEP.  This locks you in for one year.