Help getting started~

[strawberryxfuzz]

Hello everyone~

I've been looking into this for quite a while now, however there's just too much different information I don't know what to follow and I just stumbled across this forum. I'm 24 years old, working 2 jobs in New York and as much as I wanted to, never had the chance to go to college. I dropped out of high school, my family had never pushed education or even thought to save any money for college or anything of the sort. I started working as soon as I left school, moved to New York to try and find something better, and from there it felt like all I had time to do was work just to pay the bills.

To be honest, I don't know the first thing about college - the system, any of it and I know that probably makes me sound very stupid, and my question probably even more so. I'm looking into being an ESL teacher where the minimum requirement is a BA. I wanted to keep my courses focused around English.

Could anyone give me advice on where to start? Do I still need to enroll in a college or can I study for and complete the exams on my own and transfer them somehow? (I've read a lot of arguments on that). What are the different types of exams? And how do I choose which to take? Are there any 100% reliable websites you use? Any tips on creating a study/degree plan?

I really appreciate anyone who takes the time to help me out with this.

[rebel100]

Start here: Degree Forum Wiki

The wiki was completed by people here on IC, it is a great overview of the test out process and includes degree plans that are more or less current for each of the "Big 3".

I don't believe Charter Oak requires a HS diploma or equivalent to gain admission, but you may have to have one to qualify for financial aid. Not sure about Excelsior or TESC.

[smf6824]

Ged. Get your ged. Then ask if you need help paying for school.

[AkaiOkami]

Before jumping into a BA research more into ESL. Amazon has several book on this (for cheap) and you are right, ESL has two basic requirements: 1) a BA and 2) a certificate in ESL. There are companies and firms that offer these programs (usually a TEFL/TESOL but they go by many names) that range in different hours. 120 hours in the one you want. There are usually in the ball park of $3,000 for the full course and these are brick and mortar classes. Find one that allows you to practice teaching in a live class. If you want a certificate that stands out then U.K. Cambridge or Trinity, if memory serves me correctly, either one are the ones to get. As for a BA that is up to you. Remember you have options so do not limit yourself in thinking you must get a degree in English when a BA in anything will do because, most people start there job teaching elementary school children under a one year or less contract with the school.

[PaintTheSunset]

If you're planning to teach in the U.S. in the public school system, then do some research on teaching certification requirements. There really aren't options for testing completely out of an education degree with K-12 licensure, but there should be plenty of options that allow at least some portions of a degree to be completed via testing.

[strawberryxfuzz]

I already have my GED. Also I already researched a lot on ESL and the requirements for it. I'm only looking for info on how to achieve my bachelors through this test taking. The BA is something I need for what I want to do specifically, and keeping it focused for English is just my personal preference.

[laughter]

Have you considered which of the Big 3 colleges you would like to complete your degree with? This is the link for TESC's BA in English ~ Thomas Edison State College: English. You could take CLEPs/DSSTs or other credit-by-exams to fulfill a bulk of your credit requirements. For the English courses, you might want to take a handful of courses from American Public University then transfer them to TESC.
How to get started? Refer to the "Degree Forum Wiki" link given earlier by another member. Those are sample degree plans. Assuming you're going with TESC... then use the English degree link I've just given, and select courses/exams to meet those credit requirements. You could also use the TESC college catalog to get an idea of what kind of courses will fit under each requirement. Finally, post your degree plan here and ask for feedback. Best wishes as you begin this journey!

[rebel100]

The English concentration will be difficult as it will require 30 credits at the upper level, there simply are t this many UL exams. Liberal studies or a dual concentration would make it easier to test out of.

There are places to take cheaper UL courses. CSU Pueblo has a bunch, BYU and the University of Idaho should have some....those are likely the cheapest self paced options you will find. Google the school name with "independent studies" to see what each has to offer.

[cookderosa]

welcome to the forum!! I went to vocational school for culinary arts after high school, which isn't college-ish at all. As I got married and started a family, we decided to homeschool our kids, but when my oldest got close to high school, I freaked out because I also didn't know the first thing about college; so getting him ready for college was really scary. I also had no idea about any of it. Guess what? It's not nearly as hard or as intimidating as people would have you believe! The fact that you found this board and have thought about the college requirements of the career you'd like to pursue mean you've already got some of the hard part out of the way.

The questions you ask are excellent, and probably the most commonly asked questions. It's unfortunate that we don't have a FAQ here, but these questions are addressed in hundreds of threads in the forum, and the Wiki link is a great place to start. If you'll be patient, give yourself a few weeks to become a "regular" reader and poster. Ask questions, read the archives. It will slowly start to come together. Investing a month here learning will save you 3 years of doing. I promise.

This is the best site, you have found it already. Welcome!

*edit* there is a lot of specific advice already coming your way, I'd caution you to just sit back and take it all in; don't start "doing" anything yet. HOW you earn your ESL / BA degree isn't typical because of the licensure requirements. Understanding everything you'll need in the end is first. Then, you'll work backwards to the beginning and learning IF you can test, WHICH tests you can take, WHERE you can take them, WHERE you can attend for your degree, and HOW you'll pay for it all. There are lots of examples of people who earn degrees that don't meet their career goals/needs. That wastes money, but it also wastes time.

[KayV]

In addition to the excellent advice above, I thought I would share a degree plan that one of my former high school students is using to graduate from TESC. He wants to teach English (on a surfboard, I think ) in Costa Rica. We originally created this to use his credits, but I replaced them with corresponding exams and moved the Spanish to the end.

The main points for you to notice are that he has some English classes, some psychology classes, and some classes with the word "education" in them. TESOL recruiters like to see this.

Also, he wanted to test out as much as possible, but there are classes from Straighterline and Saylor that would have worked equally well to fit these requirements.

TESC BA in Liberal Studies for TESOL
I. General Education Requirements
1. ENC-101 TECEP English Composition I 3 hrs
2. ENC-102 TECEP English Composition II 3
3. MAT-115 ALEKS Intermediate Algebra 3
4. ENG-201 TECEP Technical Writing 3
5. PLA-100/200 Kaplan Prior Learning Assessment (no-cost) 3
6. JOU-110 TECEP Intro to News Reporting 3
7. POS-101 TECEP Intro to Political Science 3
8. ENS-201 DSST Environment and Humanity 3
9. HUM-101/102 CLEP Humanities 6
10. CIS-107 TECEP Computer Concepts and Applications 3
11. ETH-210 TECEP Environmental Ethics 3
12. SOC-101 Introductory Sociology 3
13. SOC-210 TECEP Marriage and the Family 3 (or TECEP Psych of Women)
14. SOS-101/102 CLEP Social Sciences and History 6
15. PSY-101 CLEP Intro to Psychology 3
16. PSY-211 DSST Lifespan Developmental Psychology 3
17. COM-210 TECEP Public Relations Thought and Practice 3
18. PSY-230 CLEP Intro to Educational Psychology 3

II. Area of Study: Liberal Studies
1. Humanities 21, 3UL
a. LIT-205/206 CLEP American Literature I and II 6
b. LIT-208/209 CLEP English Literature I and II 6
c. LIT-291/292 CLEP Analyzing and Interpreting Literature 6
d. REL-405 DSST Intro to World Religions 3UL
2. Social Science 12UL
a. PSY-331 DSST Fundamentals of Counseling 3UL
b. PSY-350 TECEP Abnormal Psychology 3UL
c. PSY-361 DSST Organizational Behavior 3UL
d. SOS-305 DSST Substance Abuse 3UL
3. Capstone 3UL
a. LIB-495 Liberal Arts Capstone 3UL

III. Free Electives (need 24)
1. UExcel EDUX-310 Literacy Instruction in the Elementary School 6
2. EDU-102 DSST Foundations of Education 3
3. TEEX Cybersecurity series (no-cost) 6
4. CLEP Spanish Language 12 (or any 9 more hours of credits)