Biology Degree from TESU - Is Lumerit helpful?

[Ideas]

Pathophysiology is cheaper at study.com, but would be LL. Better to take it as a UExcel.

I believe Microbiology at SL will be LL too.

Science courses at community colleges (including NMJC and Clovis) will be LL at TESU. Community college courses are LL at TESU.

[sanantone]

Sanantone,

Do you know if the Straighterline microbiology course is considered UL at TESU? It's listed as a lower level course on Straighterline.

I'll need 18 credit hours worth of 300-400 level science courses for the biology degree.

Thanks so much for all the great insights! I really do appreciate it.

Yes, it is UL. I took it and transferred it. Microbiology is always considered UL at TESU unless it comes from a community college. Here are some important things to understand about TESU. They don't care about how ACE or the original school has evaluated the course when it comes to UL and LL. If TESU offers the course as UL, or it is listed as UL in their PLA database, then it will always come in as UL. The exception would be community college courses. CC courses are always LL at TESU. TESU will sometimes even downgrade a course that is UL at another school if it is listed as LL at TESU. Sometimes, they'll be nice and create a generic, UL course code i.e. BIO-399.

You can verify how a course will transfer at this link. Microbiology transfers as BIO-351.

Thomas Edison State University Course Equivalency Guide | StraighterLine

[Ideas]

You could also do the Bachelor's in General Studies at COSC, with concentration in Biology.

[sanantone]

You could also do the Bachelor's in General Studies at COSC, with concentration in Biology.

Ew. LOL. Just kidding...kind of. TESU's bio degree is a real bio degree. It requires most of the courses you would typically see in a traditional biology program. The plus side to doing the bio concentration at COSC is that you can earn a lot of credits just by scoring in the 40th percentile on the Biology GRE Subject Test, but it's not a real biology degree.

[Ideas]

Ew. LOL. Just kidding...kind of. TESU's bio degree is a real bio degree. It requires most of the courses you would typically see in a traditional biology program. The plus side to doing the bio concentration at COSC is that you can earn a lot of credits just by scoring in the 40th percentile on the Biology GRE Subject Test, but it's not a real biology degree.

I agree but it seems quick. In some ways it may be better than Excelsior's.

[Silly_Me]

Ew. LOL. Just kidding...kind of. TESU's bio degree is a real bio degree. It requires most of the courses you would typically see in a traditional biology program. The plus side to doing the bio concentration at COSC is that you can earn a lot of credits just by scoring in the 40th percentile on the Biology GRE Subject Test, but it's not a real biology degree.

Yeah... TESU seems to be the only college in the country that offers an actual biology degree online. Believe me, I've been looking! I wish it was a BS in Biology. But, beggars can't be choosers.

[Silly_Me]

Out of curiosity... What would you guys take (or test out of) for the "Understanding the Physical and Natural World" requirement at TESU? I know a lot of people CLEP out of Biology for that one, but I will need Bio 1 & 2 w/ labs (which I plan to take at a local community college). Will General Chemistry suffice? I'm taking Chem 1 & 2 next year, but I think the General Chemistry course I'm taking this year is more of an "Intro to Chemistry" course. Will that count?

Any other ideas for fulfilling that core requirement? Thanks, guys!

[sanantone]

I agree but it seems quick. In some ways it may be better than Excelsior's.

It is better than Excelsior's. COSC at least requires some of the typical science courses.

Out of curiosity... What would you guys take (or test out of) for the "Understanding the Physical and Natural World" requirement at TESU? I know a lot of people CLEP out of Biology for that one, but I will need Bio 1 & 2 w/ labs (which I plan to take at a local community college). Will General Chemistry suffice? I'm taking Chem 1 & 2 next year, but I think the General Chemistry course I'm taking this year is more of an "Intro to Chemistry" course. Will that count?

Any other ideas for fulfilling that core requirement? Thanks, guys!

There are way too many options to list. Something as simple as Intro to Computer Science can fulfill that requirement.

Thomas Edison State University | General Education - 2016 or After

[Yenisei]

Sanantone,

Do you know if the Straighterline microbiology course is considered UL at TESU? It's listed as a lower level course on Straighterline.

I'll need 18 credit hours worth of 300-400 level science courses for the biology degree.

Thanks so much for all the great insights! I really do appreciate it.

Don't forget that 3 of those credits will come from the mandatory Liberal Arts Capstone course.

[Ancapman]

If you plan on any and I mean ANY graduate or professional science degree DO NOT TAKE ANY IN TRACK SCIENCE COURSES ONLINE.

It was said before but no med school (well maybe the Caribbean schools where you are unlikely to graduate and if you do are highly unlikely to get a residency) and no graduate school worth attending in science field will accept online courses for science or higher than algebra for consideration.

They want you to be in the classroom and in the lab for a minimum of:
Eng Comp I and II
Bio I and II
Phys I and II
Chem I and II
O Chem I and II
Micro
BioChem
A&P I and II (PA schools)
pre calculus and higher.

Best bet if you are looking for an eventual MS, MD, DO, PHD is get a BA in practically anything.

Enter into a Post Bacc program and take the above courses or the ones your desired programs require for entry and get A's

This is the fastest and cheapest track for someone without a BA into graduate or higher level science. 6-9 months for Bachelors. 1.5-2 years post bacc work. Then enter desired program.

Also while you may tell FASFA that you are degree seeking during your post bacc, it is highly unlikely that your post bacc school will accept any of your SL, Study.com, Aleks etc courses as kosher for their degree.

Example. I will be starting at University of Pittsburgh for Post bacc BS natural science/pre med January 3rd 2018. They will let me take only the science and math courses as a I "pursue" a second Bachelors. But I will only be able to transfer in credits to Pitt from Cuyamaca, St Leo, TESU, and CCAC. A whole 36 credits. They do not recognize anything from non regionally accredited schools as being valid. So unless Study, SL and ALEKS becomes a regionally accredited institution, all of that work is meaningless to them.

But once you get those pre reqs out of the way you could be sneaky and possibly qualify for a second BS degree from TESU with a second capstone. So now you would have a BA and BS that are regionally accredited with classes accepted by science grad departments. So in my case I will end up with BA psychology and BS in Natural Science via TESU Bachelor of Science with approved LDAS.

Now you have something to work with for graduate, MD, DO or
PHD plans.