Request degree advice

[rachel83az]

1.   Can an online degree pass the WES evaluation? 

If you get a US degree, online or not, you don't have to go through WES at all in order to use it in the US. If you want to go somewhere like Canada or Australia, the answer is "it depends". But, these days, online degrees are not (as) frowned upon in the English-speaking world as they once were. A lot of important universities now offer degrees that are at least partially available online. There is a lot of "it depends" for this. If you're looking to move to the US, you will probably want to get a Master's degree later to improve your chances of getting in. But definitely consult with an immigration attorney if this is your goal.

2.   For example, I’d like to enroll in TESU; the process is as follows:  make appointments with the consulter à complete as much as a credit on Sophia or study.comà register at TESU. Is this correct?

For TESU, no. Close, but not quite. We usually recommend that you do not talk to advising at all, unless you have no other choice. They will often give wrong or misleading information. To avoid confusion, it's best to avoid talking to TESU employees at all. The steps for TESU specifically would be:

1. Apply to TESU, following the steps for an international student. If your high school diploma is from a country where the native language is not English (examples: China, Germany, Saudia Arabia, Brazil, etc.), you must include TOEFL or IELTS scores. OR if taking these exams is not possible due to needing to travel, take 3 Arizona State University Universal Learner classes for $425 each. Proof of language proficiency is NOT required for the ASU UL classes.
   
2. Pay for the Medical Terminology TECEP for $52. This gets you full enrollment status and allows you to send in credits as you obtain them. This helps insulate you from any changes they might make in the future to the degree program.
   
3. Decide which RA credits you will take, following our degree plan suggestions. TESU requires that at least 30 US credits come from an actual college or university. Credits from Sophia or Study.com do not count. The required capstone & cornerstone do count, which leaves 24 credits from somewhere. To save money and avoid paying the residency waiver fee, we often recommend that students complete a flat-rate 16-credit term at TESU (capstone, cornerstone, PLA-100, and 3 easy classes or ePacks of your choice). That would leave you with 8 credits needed. Assuming that your native language is not English, one possibility for your 30 credits would be the following:
   • SOS-110 Information Literacy, TESU flat-rate term, 3 credits
     
   • LIB-495 Liberal Arts Capstone, TESU flat-rate term, 3 credits
     
   • CIS-351 Software Engineering, TESU flat-rate term, 3 credits
     
   • CIS-107 Computer Concepts and Applications (ePack exam), TESU flat-rate term, 3 credits
     
   • ART-100 A World of Art, TESU flat-rate term, 3 credits
     
   • PLA-100 Introduction to Prior Learning Assessment, TESU flat-rate term, 1 credit
     
   • AST-111 Introduction to Solar Systems Astronomy or BIO-100 The Living World, ASU Universal Learner, 4 credits
     
   • ASM-246 Human Origins, ASU Universal Learner, 3 credits
     
   • MAT-117 College Algebra or MAT-170 Precalculus, ASU Universal Learner, 3 credits
     
   • CIS-194 Technical Support Fundamentals, ASU Universal Learner, 1 credit (unlike other ASU UL classes, this class is only $25 and not $425)
     
   • Any TECEP exam, except ones that overlap with the classes above. Example: do not take CIS-107 TECEP if taking the CIS-107 ePack. Suggested: English Comp II TECEP.
     
4. Once you've filled in your degree plan with the RA credits, start taking classes at Sophia to fill in the gaps. English Comp I at Sophia can be okay, but we usually recommend against taking English Comp II there. Either take the TECEP exam or complete English Comp II at Study.com. Do not take Public Speaking at Sophia; Study.com has a much easier option for TESU students. Take Art History I & II to help prepare for ART-100 @ TESU.
   
5. For easy elective credits, you may be able to take an ACTFL or two for your native language. If your native language is French, German, Spanish, Russian, or Portuguese, you can take all 4 ACTFL exams. If you speak something else, there may only be 1 or 2 ACTFL exams available.
   
6. Fill in whatever is left with Study.com. This should be around 10 Study.com classes, I believe.
   
7. You should have 16 credits left. Fill these by taking the flat-rate term.
   
8. Graduate.
   

The ASU classes will get you into TESU, so you'd take those as soon as possible before even applying. 

The 3-credit TECEP should be taken 10-12 months after you become a fully enrolled student or once you have about 100 credits, whichever comes first. You need to pay for a TECEP about once per year in order to maintain enrollment. The first should be the 1-credit Medical Terminology TECEP to get you enrolled ASAP (you do not have to take this one, only to pay for it). The second should be a 3-credit TECEP of your choice (English Comp II is suggested); this one needs to be passed for the RA credit.

3.   One of my classmates who graduated from WGU mentioned he accomplished that degree in 10 months, which is useless …I’m not sure if he said that to help sell the Bootcamp or if it’s real.

It's real. Some WGU students are even able to graduate in 6 months or less when they have prior experience/credits. TESU can be completed in a similar time-frame, though I think most students complete their degrees in 12-18 months with the help of Sophia/Study.com/etc. Unfortunately, WGU isn't available to students outside of the USA.

Bootcamps are usually pretty useless for employment purposes these days. Definitely stay away from actual bootcamps in the future. 

4.   Can you recommend any college that allows work experience change credits?

If you're talking about what I think you are, this is usually referred to as a portfolio or PLA credits. At most schools, including TESU, doing an actual portfolio assessment for PLA credits is usually both time-consuming and expensive. With the way Sophia and Study.com work, it is both faster and easier to get the Sophia/Study.com credits and not worry about your portfolio. 

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Which MS certificates do you have and when did you take them? Some of them are worth credit at TESU.