Advice for a liberal studies-psychology student

[futureaccountingstudent]

Hello,

I just applied to TESU for BALS with a psychology emphasis. (yes, i know my username says accounting student. Please ignore that.) I don't have any credits to transfer and I am wanting to get this degree as quickly and as cheaply as possible. Could y'all please tell me the best courses/ tests to take. Thank y'all!

[rachel83az]

You're going to need at least 24 RA credits, plus the capstone/cornerstone. Are you planning to pay the residency waiver or would you want to do a 16-credit-term and save money?

Check out https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Sa...ts_Roadmap for course suggestions. You're going to want to take as much as possible from Sophia because they are the cheapest and the fastest. Do NOT use them for English Comp, though. Olivet Nazarene University would be a better choice there (and for most of your other RA credit) because the courses are self-paced and only $50/credit after completion.

[futureaccountingstudent]

You're going to need at least 24 RA credits, plus the capstone/cornerstone. Are you planning to pay the residency waiver or would you want to do a 16-credit-term and save money?

Check out https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Sa...ts_Roadmap for course suggestions. You're going to want to take as much as possible from Sophia because they are the cheapest and the fastest. Do NOT use them for English Comp, though. Olivet Nazarene University would be a better choice there (and for most of your other RA credit) because the courses are self-paced and only $50/credit after completion.

Thank you! I plan on doing a 16 credit term

[LevelUP]

I suggest making a spreadsheet of your degree plan.

Then you can post it on the forum if you want us to review it.

[bjcheung77]

You need to take the bulk of your credits from Sophia.org for lower level, Study.com for upper level, and TECEPS for RA credits. If you want to save cashflow, you can take a few NCCRS credits too, but Sophia.org would be the cheapest, easiest, fastest for lower level. For upper level, decide what courses you need, you can find some with Coopersmith, Davar, Study.com, etc... Just make sure you have 30 RA credits total, so that can be 15 credits from 5 TECEPS, and the 16 credit residency credits, total 31 RA, the rest can be ACE/NCCRS combo!

[rachel83az]

Unless you really love tests (and some people do), I wouldn't recommend using TECEPs for your RA credit. ProctorU is just a hassle to deal with.

[studyingfortests]

If you are considering going beyond a bachelor's degree, one 'cheat' I've found that I recommend: When you sign up for Study.com, take their "ECE Research Methods Prep" course. It will prepare you well for the ECE research methods exam. You will find that SDC also offers its own Research Methods class, and after completing the ECE research methods prep, you'll find that you have completed about 95% of SDC's Research Methods classs. Take that exam as well. You'll end up with 3 credits of UL from the ECE and 3 credits of LL from the SDC. They come in as different courses, and you'll need reseearch methods if you are going beyond the bachelor's.

I also (somewhat) recommend Coopersmith for some of your other UL psychology. They have a number of classes that are both UL and psych.

One other thought: If you are planning to go beyond the bachelors, to a masters in psychology or counseling, I recommend taking a serious look at the MSW instead of either of the psych degrees. The MSW will also prepare you to be a mental health therapist, and social workers have a wider scope of practice than masters-level therapists do in just about every state. They can also bill Medicare, which MFT/LPC cannot. I can suggest some reasonably priced online MSW programs to look at if you decide that's of interest.