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AA/ASNSM from TESU then finish BS elsewhere?
#1
Hi there! 

I'm so happy to have come across this forum. I have un-seriously been planning using the Big 3 to pursue my bachelor's for a little while now since I discovered DIYdegree. I'm fundamentally opposed to starting off my career in large amounts of debt, so I spent my first couple years out of high school working. I've got some really awesome and valuable experience, but I've learned that I really enjoy science and research, so I'm planning to pursue a bachelors' in microbiology or biochemistry.

I see that TESU has a bachelors' in biology, but not the above degrees that are a little more specific. Because of this, I thought I could use the methods from this forum to get my associates' ant then transfer somewhere else to finish the rest of my degree.

My question is, has anyone on this forum successfully pulled off a "2+2" plan using the big 3, especially in the field of STEM? The website says that their ASNSM degree is ideal for this, but 1. I've never heard of an ASNSM degree at other colleges, so don't know if they would except it, and 2. I've read (ok, skimmed) the beginners' guides on this website and done some searches that haven't turned up any information about this.

I saw in another thread that the Biology BA isn't really a good route if you want to go for a PhD... I'm not necessarily interested in continuing education after my bachelors, especially if it involves astronomical expenses, but I guess I'd rather not completely close that door. Maybe finishing the degree elsewhere that would be possible?

I'd be very grateful for any guidance, tips, or personal experiences that could help me find my way. Thanks!  Big Grin
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#2
Lab experience will be important if you want to go on to a PhD. I don't see why a bachelor's degree in biology wouldn't be good for a PhD program. You'll mostly need to worry about your GPA, science GPA, GRE scores, and letters of recommendation. 

While earning your undergraduate degree online is not recommended if you want to earn a PhD in a science or just work in a lab, if that is your only option, University of Florida has an online bachelor completion program in microbiology. I was briefly in their online master's in microbiology with a concentration in biochemistry, but it doesn't include labs.

I have the ASNSM; it's a natural science degree with a concentration in biology. It's not really a good 2+2 degree because it doesn't require the typical lower level credits in a 4-year degree in biology. However, it was good enough for me to earn admission to UF's master's program. I don't have a bachelor's degree in a natural science.

I forgot that Arizona State University has an online bachelor's in biochemistry. It requires in-person labs.
Graduate of Not VUL or ENEB
MS, MSS and Graduate Cert
AAS, AS, BA, and BS
CLEP
Intro Psych 70, US His I 64, Intro Soc 63, Intro Edu Psych 70, A&I Lit 64, Bio 68, Prin Man 69, Prin Mar 68
DSST
Life Dev Psych 62, Fund Coun 68, Intro Comp 469, Intro Astr 56, Env & Hum 70, HTYH 456, MIS 451, Prin Sup 453, HRM 62, Bus Eth 458
ALEKS
Int Alg, Coll Alg
TEEX
4 credits
TECEP
Fed Inc Tax, Sci of Nutr, Micro, Strat Man, Med Term, Pub Relations
CSU
Sys Analysis & Design, Programming, Cyber
SL
Intro to Comm, Microbio, Acc I
Uexcel
A&P
Davar
Macro, Intro to Fin, Man Acc
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#3
Your best bet would probably be to find the bachelor's degree program you want to take and which school you want to take it at, whether it's a local university or an online program. After you find the program you want to do, then you can inquire if they take CLEPs and other alternative credits for your geneds. Or you can inquire if they accept a sort of block transfer with your ASNSM. Either way, you will need a bunch of lab science courses in Bio, chem, physics, etc. which are pretty limited in the alternative credit field, so regardless, you will have to take some B&M lab sciences.
WGU BSIT Complete January 2022
(77CU transferred in)(44/44CU ) 

RA(non WGU)(57cr)
JST/TESU Eval of NAVY Training(85/99cr)
The Institutes, TEEX, NFA(9cr): Ethics, Cyber 101/201/301, Safety
Sophia(60cr): 23 classes
Study.com(31cr): Eng105, Fin102, His108, LibSci101, Math104, Stat101, CS107, CS303, BUS107
CLEP(9cr): Intro Sociology 63 Intro Psych 61 US GOV 71
OD(12cr): Robotics, Cyber, Programming, Microecon
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#4
(01-23-2019, 12:56 PM)sanantone Wrote: Lab experience will be important if you want to go on to a PhD. I don't see why a bachelor's degree in biology wouldn't be good for a PhD program. You'll mostly need to worry about your GPA, science GPA, GRE scores, and letters of recommendation. 

While earning your undergraduate degree online is not recommended if you want to earn a PhD in a science or just work in a lab, if that is your only option, University of Florida has an online bachelor completion program in microbiology. I was briefly in their online master's in microbiology with a concentration in biochemistry, but it doesn't include labs.

I have the ASNSM; it's a natural science degree with a concentration in biology. It's not really a good 2+2 degree because it doesn't require the typical lower level credits in a 4-year degree in biology. However, it was good enough for me to earn admission to UF's master's program. I don't have a bachelor's degree in a natural science.

I forgot that Arizona State University has an online bachelor's in biochemistry. It requires in-person labs.

Thanks for your reply!

I've looked at ASU and UF's online bio programs: UF's microbiology has in person labs too. They both seem like pretty good options. I'm not actually opposed to finishing the rest of a bachelor's in person, though. My reasoning for doing the Associates' online is purely economical. I was sort of thinking that maybe getting some lab experience in the latter half of the degree would make up for things, assuming I could find a school that would accept it.

So do you think earning a standard A.A. through the big 3 would be better for a 2+2 plan, or also not ideal for a biology degree? If lab experience is an issue for transfer, do you think it would be possible to do the most important courses for lab experience in person from a community college and put that towards the AA big 3?
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#5
Yeah taking lab sciences through a local CC would be a good option.

If you do end up going with ASU, here is their CLEP/DSST transfer page: https://catalog.asu.edu/credit_exam#CLEP

Of note is that they accept the biology clep as 8 credits and the chemistry clep as 4. That may mean they let those CLEPs replace the corresponding labs. Some CLEPs, they only accept as elective credit and some CLEPs they don't accept at all, so I would keep all this in mind when choosing your destination school.
WGU BSIT Complete January 2022
(77CU transferred in)(44/44CU ) 

RA(non WGU)(57cr)
JST/TESU Eval of NAVY Training(85/99cr)
The Institutes, TEEX, NFA(9cr): Ethics, Cyber 101/201/301, Safety
Sophia(60cr): 23 classes
Study.com(31cr): Eng105, Fin102, His108, LibSci101, Math104, Stat101, CS107, CS303, BUS107
CLEP(9cr): Intro Sociology 63 Intro Psych 61 US GOV 71
OD(12cr): Robotics, Cyber, Programming, Microecon
CSM(3cr)
Various IT/Cybersecurity Certifications from: CompTIA, Google, Microsoft, AWS, GIAC, LPI, IBM
CS Fund. MicroBachelor(3cr)
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#6
(01-23-2019, 01:21 PM)mhcox Wrote:
(01-23-2019, 12:56 PM)sanantone Wrote: Lab experience will be important if you want to go on to a PhD. I don't see why a bachelor's degree in biology wouldn't be good for a PhD program. You'll mostly need to worry about your GPA, science GPA, GRE scores, and letters of recommendation. 

While earning your undergraduate degree online is not recommended if you want to earn a PhD in a science or just work in a lab, if that is your only option, University of Florida has an online bachelor completion program in microbiology. I was briefly in their online master's in microbiology with a concentration in biochemistry, but it doesn't include labs.

I have the ASNSM; it's a natural science degree with a concentration in biology. It's not really a good 2+2 degree because it doesn't require the typical lower level credits in a 4-year degree in biology. However, it was good enough for me to earn admission to UF's master's program. I don't have a bachelor's degree in a natural science.

I forgot that Arizona State University has an online bachelor's in biochemistry. It requires in-person labs.

Thanks for your reply!

I've looked at ASU and UF's online bio programs: UF's microbiology has in person labs too. They both seem like pretty good options. I'm not actually opposed to finishing the rest of a bachelor's in person, though. My reasoning for doing the Associates' online is purely economical. I was sort of thinking that maybe getting some lab experience in the latter half of the degree would make up for things, assuming I could find a school that would accept it.

So do you think earning a standard A.A. through the big 3 would be better for a 2+2 plan, or also not ideal for a biology degree? If lab experience is an issue for transfer, do you think it would be possible to do the most important courses for lab experience in person from a community college and put that towards the AA big 3?

There are online lab courses, but it's going to get expensive. University of New England has virtual labs, I believe. Some community colleges have students buy lab kits and do the labs in their home. 

I almost thought about completing an associate's in biology at Central Texas College because they award 8 credits for the biology and chemistry CLEPs. So, you could earn lab credits without completing labs. Of course, that isn't ideal if you really want to learn hands-on stuff. 

Just about any AA or AS program will take care of most of the general education requirements for a BA or BS. It's just better to have physics I and II, chemistry I and II, biology I and II, and organic chemistry I and II completed before you transfer since those are lower level credits that can be done cheaply at a community college. 

As Mnomadic said, you can look for bachelor's programs at schools that accept CLEP and DSST. Many will accept up to 30 credits from non-traditional sources; a few will accept 60-90.
Graduate of Not VUL or ENEB
MS, MSS and Graduate Cert
AAS, AS, BA, and BS
CLEP
Intro Psych 70, US His I 64, Intro Soc 63, Intro Edu Psych 70, A&I Lit 64, Bio 68, Prin Man 69, Prin Mar 68
DSST
Life Dev Psych 62, Fund Coun 68, Intro Comp 469, Intro Astr 56, Env & Hum 70, HTYH 456, MIS 451, Prin Sup 453, HRM 62, Bus Eth 458
ALEKS
Int Alg, Coll Alg
TEEX
4 credits
TECEP
Fed Inc Tax, Sci of Nutr, Micro, Strat Man, Med Term, Pub Relations
CSU
Sys Analysis & Design, Programming, Cyber
SL
Intro to Comm, Microbio, Acc I
Uexcel
A&P
Davar
Macro, Intro to Fin, Man Acc
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#7
Most schools won't do a 2+2 program with an out-of-state college - they have articulation agreements between CC's and 4-yr state schools. So trying for this won't get you what you want (basically a block transfer of your degree). Plus, with TESU, you will way overpay for the AA/AS degree - I never recommend it, because it's just too expensive.

I think you're better off getting your AA from your local CC if the price is good, and then transferring to a 4-yr school.
TESU BSBA/HR 2018 - WVNCC BOG AAS 2017 - GGU Cert in Mgmt 2000
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