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My Journey: BA in English from TESU
#51
I want to do this, but I'm still looking into how to get UL credits cheaply. I'm going to drop the Publishing part to make it easier, and maybe not put Editing in the name.

Actually, I really wish I could somehow, using PLA, get a somewhat low-cost grad cert instead (and then the Bachelor's could be in something easier/cheaper to complete). 

TESU does have the Professional Communications one which is tempting to work on (through PLA), but I really want my Bachelor's/Grad Cert to say Technical Communications as well as Writing in the title. I guess some people would say what's the difference, but Technical Writing/Comm is not the same as Business Writing/Comm, etc which most "Professional" ones are about.

I'm eager to submit my LDAS application, but it's hard to decide on every class. I may need to PLA 3-4 UL classes because most UL classes are $800. Even at only $650, if it's not self-paced, it seems like I should just do PLA instead. I feel that many of the courses I find have content which I already know, so I would be bored if it's not self-paced. 

I would NOT mind paying more if the course was full of content I actually want to learn, although I'm still hesitating to pay like $400/credit. Also if I'm paying more, I would like them to be grad credits (in case it helps me achieve 18 in a field someday). I looked at lots of schools' extension courses and most are expensive or the timing is bad. One I was interested in doesn't start for about 6 months. That might be ok, but I'm considering some other options.

There is one course that I feel like will be easy to PLA because I have work samples. For the other courses, it seems like they would generally accept PLA if you read the textbook parts that the course teaches and did similar projects/essays like the course contains. Hopefully that's all I have to do. I prefer to do extra reading and only 1 bigger project instead of many small ones. Multiple smaller ones are ok with me instead of the 1 bigger. I just don't like having to do both. It can't be that hard to demonstrate that you essentially did the course content on your own.

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#52
If I stayed with English I would have knocked out the CLEP soon, and only needed 5 more courses + shared capstone. With 4 of them being quick Shmoop ones. With this path, I figure I need 8 more courses, with 2-3 being test out.

But I feel this is worth it. I already made the mistake of going for the faster, cheaper, easier degree before. (The BSBA. I really thought that I wouldn't want to continue school after about 9-12 months.)

Also, I'm hoping to PLA 8-12 graduate credits and take another 3-6 graduate credits to use in this degree, if that's permitted. I think their limits on grad credits are only for people who want to also use the same credits in a Masters degree.

Eventually maybe I'll hit 18 that are Eng / Journalism and similar enough.

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#53
Apparently the course I wanted to PLA the most was "professional development", and I'm being advised that I can't, although I'm not sure I trust that (because TESU has been giving me seriously conflicting information on other things). Still, it's unlikely, and I'm actually thinking of scrapping this entire plan. One huge reason is that I could do the WGU CS degree instead of TESU's, which I only found out about this week. The PD issue changes my plans a lot, because apparently all the cheap "grad level" courses that I was seeing were PD.

I don't understand the situation very well, because it seems to me that these PD courses are being touted as giving actual graduate credit or undergraduate credit. Usually 3 SH for undergrad or 2 SH for grad. I guess perhaps they try to mislead people into thinking it's real credit. It makes me wonder if a lot of the grad certificates are composed of PD courses which aren't transferable, actual credit. It's confusing.

If I end up sticking with TESU for the BA-CS, then I definitely want to add this. But I expect them to fight me on everything I want to PLA for my "custom" area of study, and it's tiring.

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#54
(03-15-2018, 04:10 PM)Ideas Wrote: Apparently the course I wanted to PLA the most was "professional development", and I'm being advised that I can't, although I'm not sure I trust that (because TESU has been giving me seriously conflicting information on other things).
...

I think this may be a bit of misunderstanding. There's two parts to doing a PLA. The first is to find an actual college course that you wish to get credit for. I think that's what they are trying to tell you when they say that you can't PLA a professional development course. Search the TESU database for an equivalent course. If you can't find one there, broaden your search to other RA schools to find an equivalent course and submit THAT as your PLA. The second part is doing and documenting the learning. For that part, you could certainly take a PD course, and document that what you learned in it fulfills the learning objectives of the college course.
NanoDegree: Intro to Self-Driving Cars (2019)
Coursera: Stanford Machine Learning (2019)
TESU: BA in Comp Sci (2016)
TECEP:Env Ethics (2015); TESU PLA:Software Eng, Computer Arch, C++, Advanced C++, Data Struct (2015); TESU Courses:Capstone, Database Mngmnt Sys, Op Sys, Artificial Intel, Discrete Math, Intro to Portfolio Dev, Intro PLA (2014-16); DSST:Anthro, Pers Fin, Astronomy (2014); CLEP:Intro to Soc (2014); Saylor.org:Intro to Computers (2014); CC: 69 units (1980-88)

PLA Tips Thread - TESU: What is in a Portfolio?
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#55
(03-16-2018, 09:15 AM)davewill Wrote: I think this may be a bit of misunderstanding. There's two parts to doing a PLA. The first is to find an actual college course that you wish to get credit for. I think that's what they are trying to tell you when they say that you can't PLA a professional development course. Search the TESU database for an equivalent course. If you can't find one there, broaden your search to other RA schools to find an equivalent course and submit THAT as your PLA. The second part is doing and documenting the learning. For that part, you could certainly take a PD course, and document that what you learned in it fulfills the learning objectives of the college course.

I understand the process. I just didn't know that these were PD courses.

There was a specific course (PD apparently) which is not found elsewhere that I thought I could PLA. Obviously now I know I cannot, although I still think school offering the course is being misleading to potential students (and TESU somewhat, as they do about other things). By "not found elsewhere", I mean it's literally not found at any other school! It's a specialized topic that isn't in demand.

Then a separate issue for me is that I had planned to TAKE a few of the courses before I knew they were PD. I did not ever want to PLA those courses. I wanted to take them because I thought I would get cheap grad credits, but obviously not. Without being able to take these, then unfortunately I would have to PLA 6-8 courses, which I'm less interested in, but I guess it's the only option to really get the type of degree I want. I would consider getting a broader degree instead, but I'm not sure it's worth it.

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#56
I feel this thread helps to explain courses that are rigorous but don't give credit. https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...rtificates 
Cookderosa sums up how it's unclear here:


Quote:That's why people here sometimes get confused (rightfully so, I was confused, and that was after over 4 years IN ADVISING at my college!)

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#57
Another great older post by Cookderosa. https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...#pid134760
That's why I think TESU might be steering me away from that one course and it might be acceptable, although they are probably right about this particular course.

I would rather take courses than PLA them, but I don't want to pay $650 or more per course for undergrad, and just about every school charges more than that. I'm still looking for grad courses that I want to take, because I would pay more for those, and really hope I can find at least 3 which I can get a loan for. Otherwise I plan to PLA 5 UL courses.

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#58
I might be back to doing English, if I do another undergrad degree at TESU. It seems expensive to me now, unless I have a second concentration I really want. It's about $4000 for capstone + res waiver + grad fee + Non-Western Lit. If I have a second concentration, then it feels like it's only $2500 per degree, assuming the second concentration is not Comp Sci or something else expensive.

I feel like I'd rather save that money and time toward a grad cert, if I can find one I really like for around $4000.

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#59
I feel the residency waiver and capstone cost would outweigh the benefit of this degree for me, but I have a little hope this will change. Therefore, I'm planning to do Shmoop membership, maybe starting in a week and a half.

I would try to knock out 3-6 Lit courses, but I'll see how it goes. I expect it to be frustrating.

I believe I would only need 3 courses from Shmoop at most, because of the Harvard Poetry course(s), but I can't help wanting to do extra. Just in case TESU gives me a hard time about the Harvard course(s), since it's basically free to do more at Shmoop.

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#60
I didn't get around to doing Shmoop before the change. I wish I had done 1-2 courses instead of waiting until I had more free time (aiming for 3-6 courses), but I was distracted and unsure I wanted to complete this degree.

Now I do. I plan to start 2 Harvard Poetry in January. Then hopefully the Coopersmith course does not duplicate one of those. Probably not, since those are graduate level.

I don't know which Non-Western course I would do. Still thinking of attempting PLA through LearningCounts. Not only to save money, but as I brought up before, so that I could select my own books and writing assignments.

Those and the capstone should complete my degree requirements, however, I shouldn't have done the two CLEP exams when I did. Now those count as old credits. I will need to take the American Lit CLEP to get 6 new credits. I don't mind that, but I don't know how I'll get my final 3 new credits. The final 3 new credits cannot duplicate my old CLEPs (Analyzing Lit I/II or English Lit I/II) or others I have.

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