Advice needed with Admission and Foreign Transcripts. TESU.

[portia8]

I'm not familiar with how things work with the South African school system. You say you don't get a diploma but do you at least get a "leaving school certificate" of some kind? If not, you may need to get your "high school transcripts" (the A Levels and IGCSE) evaluated by an accepted institution. WES is one but there are others. It would be a good idea to have this done as soon as possible so that you can apply to TESU. If they are going to update their catalog, they'll do so on January 1st and already being a student means that you won't have to deal with any changes to which classes are or are not required.

History happens to be one of the more difficult degrees to get. One of the best sources for certain credits is a DSST test that is not currently available (because of the pandemic) to students who are not also members of the American military. This can result in the degree being a bit slower and/or more expensive than it would otherwise be. It doesn't necessarily mean that you should choose a different degree but it is something to be aware of.

While you are waiting for your evaluation, the best thing to do would be to sign up at Sophia and take everything EXCEPT College Readiness and the Foundations courses. This advice applies to any TESU degrees now. But, for a History degree, completing all of Sophia will grant you just over 80 credits and mean that you're about 2/3rds of the way towards completing your degree.

Thank you so much for your reply I really appreciate it! I had no idea that the history ba happens to be one of the more complex ones to study, I'm not entirely set on a subject so I'm open to changing if it makes the process easier. I was homeschooled in south africa and took my exams at a Cambridge testing station so I dont have a diploma. Would having my transcripts evaluated be essential before I can start the application process? The prospect of having to fork out 100 dollars per certificate to have it evaluated is quite daunting. I have seen on the forum that some people have mentioned how they dont require your transcripts as long as you dont want credit for them but perhaps they are misled or it doesn't apply to foreign transcripts.

I was going through the forum and saw that COSC also has as a Bachelor of General Studies in History and that COSC may be more affordable in the long run in comparison to TESU. Would you happen to have any advice on this matter? Truly thank you for your advice so far.