Beginning my journey

[coldseal]

First post here, I have been reading up around here for a bit, and have started my journey towards my BALS with TESU. 

I am starting fresh, with no previous credits. I am starting out by knocking out all the free sources of credit listed on the "Free Source of Credit" Wiki page. So far I have completed free The Institutes Ethics course, and the three free TEEX Cybersecurity courses, and have them put into my ACE account. After looking into the National Fire Academy course that is listed, it says it is not ACE credit recommended, has this changed or is it still something I should be taking?

I am following this degree plan (attached below) that I found within the forums. Is this still up to date and current?

Also, I have read around that some say I should wait to apply for TESU untill I am half way through my credits, and some say to just sign up right away, what course of action should I take regarding this?

Any other tips and recommendations is greatly appreciated. Thank you everyone for all the information.