TESU BS Physics+Chemistry waiver

[dfrecore]

What about chemistry instead of physics?

Looking at the Fall 2023 online schedule, you can take both Chem I w/lab and Physics I w/lab - but if you look at Spring 2023 to see what they might offer in Spring 2024, they offered Chem II w/Lab but NOT Physics II w/lab.  So I would contact the school to make sure that you're able to take the 2nd in the series before commiting.

Also, they're semester-based, so you'll generally have to take I in the Fall and then II in the spring - a long time to go for a degree if you're in a rush.

Make sure you choose the correct course - NOT the survey course, or non-STEM option.

Also, they require a pre-req of College Algebra or higher - and you'd have to see if they would accept a non-RA course like Sophia.  If not, then you're kind of screwed (which is why we normally recommend alt-credit and TESU for the lab - because they will take ACE/NCCRS credit for any pre-reqs).

Non NM residents pay $121/cr plus any applicable fees - a good price for a course.  So $400 for each course,

[jch]

Unfortunately, TESU isn't doing waivers on the lab science requirement anymore. They refused to let me use other lab sciences or even do 1+1 like other students have in the past. Their denial specifically mandated that I do two semesters of either physics or chemistry. 
After comparing the subjects, I found physics more understandable and interesting. It is also slightly more alt-credit friendly. I binged the Physics Crash Course series to get oriented, then blazed through the Physics I&II courses on SDC. The next issue was the labs. My local community and technical colleges didn't offer physics courses or labs that fit my needs. Given the lack of other options, I had to take the Physics II lab at TESU. That course was an enjoyable, low-stress affair. As StraighterLine offered a standalone alt-credit Physics I lab option, I decided to go with them for Physics I. SL's lab ended up being one of the most miserable courses I've ever completed. It was a major mistake not taking that through TESU as well. 
TESU took the SDC courses plus the internal lab with no issues. I'm still waiting for the SL lab credit to show up, though it was pre-approved by advising. 
Overall, these lab science requirements are still a huge hangup for TESU's non-business BS degree programs. There aren't great options to get the credit, and limiting lab sciences to just physics or chemistry doesn't make sense for a lot of the degrees.  
There are some new options from ASU ULC for Physics I and Chemistry I that someone should try in the future.

[jch]

TESU finally received and accepted my SL Physics I lab credit this week. I can confirm that the combo of SDC for the courses and SL+TESU for the labs worked just fine to fulfill the BS lab science requirement.
I saw some old threads from 2017 and 2018 discussing weird issues and delays for StraighterLine transcripts sent to TESU, and I can confirm that the problems are still occurring. It appears that SL still mails documents to TESU, and there is no electronic option. Expect any SL transcripts sent to TESU to take a month to arrive, and don't try to do their courses last-minute like I did.

[bjcheung77]

Hmm, great work in getting the credits over to TESU from StraighterLine. I'm not sure what has changed over the years, but when I used them way back when, it was electronic and/or through ACE. With the change over to Credly, it should still be electronic, so I'm not sure what or where the delay was... That is strange, as long as you're getting the credit, that's what matters most, I haven't done any of their labs even though I bought all of them, I guess that is the only delay...

[kt320]

Unfortunately, TESU isn't doing waivers on the lab science requirement anymore. They refused to let me use other lab sciences or even do 1+1 like other students have in the past. Their denial specifically mandated that I do two semesters of either physics or chemistry. 
After comparing the subjects, I found physics more understandable and interesting. It is also slightly more alt-credit friendly. I binged the Physics Crash Course series to get oriented, then blazed through the Physics I&II courses on SDC. The next issue was the labs. My local community and technical colleges didn't offer physics courses or labs that fit my needs. Given the lack of other options, I had to take the Physics II lab at TESU. That course was an enjoyable, low-stress affair. As StraighterLine offered a standalone alt-credit Physics I lab option, I decided to go with them for Physics I. SL's lab ended up being one of the most miserable courses I've ever completed. It was a major mistake not taking that through TESU as well. 
TESU took the SDC courses plus the internal lab with no issues. I'm still waiting for the SL lab credit to show up, though it was pre-approved by advising. 
Overall, these lab science requirements are still a huge hangup for TESU's non-business BS degree programs. There aren't great options to get the credit, and limiting lab sciences to just physics or chemistry doesn't make sense for a lot of the degrees.  
There are some new options from ASU ULC for Physics I and Chemistry I that someone should try in the future.

Hi JCH,  I know this is an old thread, but curious how you found the final to be on SDC's Physics 1 (or 2 for that. matter).  Ive seen a few reddit reviews that said the practice test was not representative of the final and they failed because of that.

TIA!

[jch]

I remember the SDC physics courses to be some of the more difficult ones on the platform. There's a lot of content to get through, and they expect you to actually be capable of applying it. You can take advantage of how SDC works, though. First, everything is multiple-choice. Get good at estimation and elimination, and you can often narrow down the answers to 1-2 options. Second, the unit quizzes make up most of your grade, and you can retake them until you get a perfect or near perfect score. My final exams weren't great, but my quiz points carried me over the line. Third, the pretests can help you skip a significant chunk of the courses using the knowledge you pick up from crash course, and those quizzes are credited as 5/5. With the right strategies, SDC physics is quite doable at least in my experience.