Need Some Help with TESU Degree Plan

[mariobros1985]

Hi everyone!

I wanted to see if anyone can still help as I have several questions before I move forward with my degree plan. So, basically, I'm currently in WGU, but have decided that I'm most likely going to switch to TESU because they accepted a lot more of my credits and I feel like it'll be faster overall. I signed up for the BA Computer Science and have recently received my evaluation.

Note that the first column is the course info from the original source such as my local Community College, the second column will be for the known equivalency transfer at TESU, and the third column will be for the name of the source (e.g. local Community College or Sophia).
 
Section A
Written Communication (1):
·         Composition & Reading (4 Credits; B) - English Composition I (ENC-101) – Local CC

Written Communication (2):
Not Started

Oral Communication:
·         Oral Communication (3 Credits; A) - (COM-108) – Local CC

Quantitative Literacy:
·         Analytic Geometry & Calc II (4 Credits; C) – Calculus II (MAT-232) – Local CC

Information Literacy (SOS-110):
Not Started
 
Section B
Diversity Intercultural Literacy:
·         World Regional Geography (3 Credits; A) – World Geography (GOG-230) – Local CC

Ethical Leadership:
Not Started

Civic Engagement and Awareness:
Not Started
 
Section C
 
Social Sciences:
·         Physical Geography (3 Credits; A) - (EAS-102) – Local CC

History:
·         United States from 1877 (3 Credits; A) – American History II (HIS-114) – Local CC

Humanities:
·         History of Art I (3 Credits; A) – Art History I (ART-166) – Local CC

Social Sciences, History and/or Humanities:
·         Intro to Music Foundations (3 Credits; A) – (MUS-100) – Local CC
·         Advanced Composition (3 Credits; A) – (ENG-203) – Local CC
 
Section D
Scientific Knowledge:
·         Introduction to Chemistry (4 Credits; B) – Survey of Chemistry (CHE-101) – Local CC
·         General Inorganic Chemistry I (5 Credits; B) – General Chemistry I with Lab (CHE-121) – Local CC

Computer Science AOS
A. Programming:
·         Introduction to Python (3 Credits) – Computer Programming I (ITS-150) – Sophia

B. Data Structures:
Not Started

C. Calculus I:
·         Analytic Geometry & Calc I (4 Credits; A) – Calculus I (MAT-231) – Local CC

D. Discrete Math:
Not Started

E. Operating Systems:
Not Started

F. Computer Architecture:
Not Started
 
G. Computer Science AOS Electives
Group 1 (4 courses):
Not Started

Group 2:
·         IT Applications (4 Credits) – Special Topics in Information Technology (ITS-299) – WGU
·         IT Foundations (4 Credits) – (ITS-103) – WGU
 
H. Computer Science Additional AOS Electives (!! Exception Excess credits in AOS & AOS Elective Grp A 3SH Required)
·         Elementary Statistics (4 Credits; A) – (STA-211) – Local CC
 
Liberal Arts Capstone
Not Started
 
Electives (!! Exception Excess credits in Gen E & AOS Electives (25SH Required))
All done (Shortened due to space)


There's just a couple of things to note. I’m still waiting to appeal the Advanced Composition (English) class towards it being equivalent to ENC-102 – English Composition II. I’m also still waiting for the archived AP credits from AP World History (scored a 3) and AP Spanish Language & Culture (scored a 4) to be sent to TESU, which will likely satisfy the Social Sciences, History and/or Humanities subsection after I finish appealing the English class. Also, my Discrete Math class is going to end pretty soon at my community college, so I will transfer that in soon. I will also be signing up, but not taking, the Medical Terminology TECEP for the cheapest way to get unlimited transcript evaluations.

For the 2 general education classes in Ethical Leadership and Civic Engagement and Awareness, I will see if I can finish one called Ethics in Technology here at WGU to transfer over and I plan to do a Comparative Politics class at my Local CC over the summer basically for free.
I have a couple of questions to ask:

Will TESU transfer in the Computer Science 311 (Artificial Intelligence) Study.com class as their own COS-451 (Artificial Intelligence) class?

I signed up for a Linear Algebra class during the summer at a community college within my state, but am thinking of dropping it because it seems like I got credit for the D316 - IT Foundations and D317 - IT Applications classes (basically the A+ certification) that I did in WGU. They both seem to count as AOS electives and that only leaves 4 classes (12 credits) in the AOS electives (G section) plus the Computer Architecture class and the capstone for the minimum 18 UL credits. If I do the Linear Algebra class at my community college, it'll only come in as a LL class, so I don't feel that there's any point in doing it for the Computer Science program and may just drop it. Would it be a good idea to just drop it or should I do it for some reason like for example, if the IT Applications or Foundations classes don't really count as AOS electives?

I was wondering if I take courses that don't apply to my degree plan, will they still count towards the residency requirements or do the classes have to apply to the same program I'm in in order to meet this requirement? I may end up just doing the gen eds that I need if the classes have to apply to the same program. Also, it's to my understanding that the Software Engineering class at TESU is easy and I think I heard that Artificial Intelligence, too. Which 3-credit classes would be easiest to complete if I want to meet the residency requirements (no e-packs as Financial Aid won't cover them)? I will be doing Software engineering, PLA-100, the capstone, and cornerstone with TESU for sure (maybe someone can confirm if AI is easy at TESU).

[davewill]

... If I do the Linear Algebra class at my community college, it'll only come in as a LL class, so I don't feel that there's any point in doing it for the Computer Science program and may just drop it. Would it be a good idea to just drop it or should I do it for some reason like for example, if the IT Applications or Foundations classes don't really count as AOS electives?

There are enough CS electives available as alt credit that I don't think you need to keep the Lin Algebra class. You'll be able to easily find something to fill that slot.

[bjcheung77]

@mariobros1985, you also want to take a look at the degree plans for TESU here: https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Category:TESU  Basically, I suggest creating a spreadsheet using the links above, then save it to your google or one drive, paste it into a reply to this thread as a viewable but not editable link.  We can then comment on the courses...

[LevelUP]

For the 2 general education classes in Ethical Leadership and Civic Engagement and Awareness, I will see if I can finish one called Ethics in Technology here at WGU to transfer over and I plan to do a Comparative Politics class at my Local CC over the summer basically for free.
I have a couple of questions to ask:

You can do Ethics at WGU which is a short course.

I don't care if it's free, I wouldn't do Comparative Politics as it's a waste of time. You can likely complete Sophia's American Govt. in 10-20hrs.

Will TESU transfer in the Computer Science 311 (Artificial Intelligence) Study.com class as their own COS-451 (Artificial Intelligence) class?

I believe that course doesn't transfer into TESU at all, not even as LL elective.
https://study.com/college/school/thomas-...rsity.html

I signed up for a Linear Algebra class during the summer at a community college within my state, but am thinking of dropping it because it seems like I got credit for the D316 - IT Foundations and D317 - IT Applications classes (basically the A+ certification) that I did in WGU. They both seem to count as AOS electives and that only leaves 4 classes (12 credits) in the AOS electives (G section)

Sophia has some quick courses that can be used as electives, do those first.

I was wondering if I take courses that don't apply to my degree plan

Yes, you can take whatever courses you like. In the end, everything will be on your transcript and nobody will know what was on your original degree plan/s. In the case of TESU courses, any courses that don't fit will go into your electives.

Also, it's to my understanding that the Software Engineering class at TESU is easy and I think I heard that Artificial Intelligence, too. Which 3-credit classes would be easiest to complete if I want to meet the residency requirements (no e-packs as Financial Aid won't cover them)? I will be doing Software engineering, PLA-100, the capstone, and cornerstone with TESU for sure (maybe someone can confirm if AI is easy at TESU).

The reason we like Software Engineering is that there really aren't any books to read and no tests to take.

Artificial Intelligence has an open-book midterm exam worth 30% of your grade. Online discussions only count for 10% of your grade. The exams at TESU can be tough.

Introduction to Critical Reasoning (PHI-130)  is an easy open-source course. You can prestudy ahead of time to give yourself less work to do doing your term.
https://www2.tesu.edu/course.php?CourseCode=PHI-130&sem=

[mariobros1985]

Thanks for the responses everyone!

I've decided to drop the Linear Algebra class as my time could be better used for other things instead. I guess I'll pass on the AI class, anyway, as I could just use other classes to transfer in to the program. I will consider doing Sophia if I have to for any remaining gen ed classes in case it works out better. In any case, I will continue to follow the advice given here on this website for any other issues I can research.

[dfrecore]

Advanced Composition (3 Credits; A) – (ENG-203) - just do an appeal via email, easy peasy
AP World History and AP Spanish Language & Culture are both Humanities, they will fill in that missing spot

If you take any "easy" TESU courses to get residency, they'll replace other courses with these, so no worries. I might take the Am Gov e-Pack course if you're going to do a 16cr term. I'd for sure take CIS-107: Computer Concepts and Applications e-Pack. That one is a no-brainer for you.