When to send transcripts from Sophia or SDC to TESU

[AZDan]

Okay, this is how new I am at this. What does AOS mean?
I am paying for this on my own. Which is why I am trying to go the Sophia and SDC route. What are you referring to by the 16 credits? I thought you could transfer in all but 6 courses???

I'll have to figure out the cut and paste since the TESU website for the evaluation is too big. But here are a couple of snapshots...


BSBA in Accounting (BSBA.ACC1)
Catalog Year:2018

Program Requirements:
1: BSBA General Education (60 SH) (In progress)
SH Earned: 53

J: Capstone 3 SH (Pending completion of unfinished activity)
*This Capstone course must be taken with Thomas Edison State University or via an approved Thomas Edison State University Academic Program Review.
For TESU course options, go to BUS-421 Business Administration Capstone

[bjcheung77]

You have options to decide from COSC, EC, TESU, and the competency based degree providers such as Brandman, Purdue, Walden, WGU and more.
The following is going to help you decide if TESU is the one for you, or if other providers will be better, the cheapest one right now is prob COSC/WGU
Just continue taking Sophia and Study.com for now until you have almost all the credits you need to graduate from TESU, but keep that in mind.

1) AOS is the Area of Study, so that means your concentration of 18 credits in a subject area such as Accounting, Finance, Marketing, Management, etc.  
2) Sophia and Study.com is the recommended route for Lower and Upper level credits, you just need 12 Upper Level and the Capstone to round out 15 UL.
3) TESU has a residency waiver fee for students who do not take more than 16 credits, it's their most expensive fee, it's like an enrolment fee they had before
4) Basically, You can take 6 credits and pay the residency waiver or take 16 credits and have that waived, the waiver fee is $3192 (Yes, Yikes!)

[rachel83az]

If you are not enrolled in any TESU courses nor have you taken a TECEP then you are not a fully enrolled student. You are in application status, which restricts you to 2 transcript evaluations.

Since you have RA credits, it might make sense for you to get a COSC degree instead, depending on what degree you're wanting. COSC only accepts a max of 90 ACE credits but the rest can be RA (except the cornerstone/capstone which must be taken at COSC). COSC does not have the waiver so the forward-going out-of-pocket expense for someone with existing RA credits will usually be lower than going to TESU.

[allvia]

Okay, this is how new I am at this. What does AOS mean?
I am paying for this on my own. Which is why I am trying to go the Sophia and SDC route. What are you referring to by the 16 credits? I thought you could transfer in all but 6 courses???

I'll have to figure out the cut and paste since the TESU website for the evaluation is too big. But here are a couple of snapshots...


BSBA in Accounting (BSBA.ACC1)
Catalog Year:2018

Program Requirements:
1: BSBA General Education (60 SH) (In progress)
SH Earned: 53

J: Capstone 3 SH (Pending completion of unfinished activity)
*This Capstone course must be taken with Thomas Edison State University or via an approved Thomas Edison State University Academic Program Review.
For TESU course options, go to BUS-421 Business Administration Capstone

If your goal when you're done is to be an Accountant then the BSBA in Accounting is what you want. If you're goal is a 'check box' for a degree in business then the BSBA-General Management is ideal.  The Accounting AOS is the only concentration where you graduate 'as something'; no you're not a CPA, but you do graduate with an accounting degree - making you an entry level accountant (assuming you have no accounting experience to make you more advanced).

Also I know you're not an SL fan but keep in mind that they do have one UL Accounting for TESU
SL's Managerial Accounting - ACC150 = TESU's Cost Accounting - ACC-303*
*This is a prime example of currently transfers in as UL, but not evaluated by ACE as UL so subject to change by TESU. However, once TESU gives you credit for something like this as UL, even if they later downgrade it to LL you get to keep your UL transfer credit.

I would recommend you take the medical terminology TECEP, make yourself active (note although you should try to pass for the 1 credit, passing is not required for becoming/keeping an active student status, nor does it impact your GPA.).  There is a recommended YouTube series somewhere posted on this forum that has been suggested as a great study tool for the exam.

[rachel83az]

I went into medical terminology cold and managed to pass it with the help of a VERY basic understanding of Latin/Greek. But if you don't pass it, being enrolled is still worth the $50. It's a good intro to how the ProctorU system works (not very well, IMO).

[AZDan]

You guys are definitely a wealth of knowledge on this, thanks!

I do accounting now and have about 12 years of experience. My goal is an MBA. But for that I want to go the online route with a B&M school. So because of this, I don't necessarily need to have my undergrad in Accounting, as you know any business degree will work. The grad schools I have narrowed down to each have a requirement of the GPA being a 3.0 for the last 60 credits. This creates a bit of a dilemma for me as to which school would work.

I need my Bachelor's fast. I was thinking accounting because that is where I have my experience. My concern over the competency based options were the credits I have could be lost since these schools don't seem to be as generous. I have considered WGU, NAU, UW Flex, and UMPI. I am not interested in Purdue Global or Brandman.

Since I am paying out of pocket, the competency based seems like a good route since I am very motivated to get this done. I have contacted two of the three grad schools about their thoughts on WGU, COSC, and TESU. One has stated they have had a student from WGU and the other hasn't yet responded.

Great tip about the medical terminology credit to make myself active. TESU per-credit fee is very high.
So in terms of overall costs, it seems like the total cost to complete from TESU would be the 6 credits I need to take from them, plus the $3,192 Residency Waiver fee that BJ mentioned, is roughly $6,200?? I arrived at that with the understanding the cost-per-credit is about $500, so $1500 per course. Does this sound correct?

[bjcheung77]

Hey, AZDan, I am so evil, more reading for you!  Here's what I recommend...but the costs have changed.
TESU BSBA General Management and also the Bachelors to Masters program right afterwards if possible.

If you are just taking the two courses at TESU
Cost: App fee $50
Cornerstone: $1557
Capstone: $1557
Residency Waiver: $3192
Grad fee: $298
Total: $6654 USD - You no longer have the Study.com discount on capstone/cornerstone

If you are looking to get 16 undergraduate credits
Cost App Fee: $50
13 Credits in a 3 month term: $4639
3 credits for Capstone 3 month: $1557
Grad Fee: $298
Total: $6544 - you save $100+ USD

If you're looking at doing the Bachelors to Masters, you pay the undergrad fee.
Cost app fee: $50
9 credits in 3 months term: $4639
9 credits in 3 months term: $4639
Grad Fee: 298
Total: $9626 for your 12 Grad Credits and your Bachelors degree

If you go the Bachelors to Masters option, you save cash as you can transfer 12 credits to another program at a different University.   Further more, you are paying slightly more, $1000-$1500 for a cheap Bachelors degree!   Which universities have you looked at above?  Some will waive the requirements for the GPA if you already have credits for transfer at the Masters level.

Graduate tuition 12 x 668 = 8016
MBA tuition 12 x 714 = 8568
TESU Graduate Tuition: https://www.tesu.edu/tuition/graduate-tuition

Reference Link 1: https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...#pid303806
Reference Link 2: https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...#pid316986

[tjguitar85]

if AZDan is on the 2018 catalog, he may not have a cornerstone requirement.

AZ Dan - do you have an existing Bachelor's Degree? If so, you may be able to just go straight to an MBA.


My Bachelor of Arts in Performing Arts was sufficient for WGU to accept me into their MBA program.


Last year, I did complete everything except the Capstone for the TESU BSBA in Accounting - All of the GE were waived for me because of my first bachelor's degree - Excelsior and COSC were going to require significantly more courses. Aslo, the cornerstone wasn't required for me catalog year, but I never got around to doing the Capstone.

If I get the MBA done in one term, that will cost less than the BSBA would have cost. If I get it done in two terms, it won't be much more than the BSBA would cost. Part of me wants to just finish the BSBA anyway, but I don't think it would do anything for me, so may be an unnecessary expense.
.

[AZDan]

The three graduate programs that I have narrowed down to have accelerated online programs, have a "3.0 for last 60" requirement. I know most grad schools are currently waiving the GMAT/GRE due to COVID but who knows how long that will last. Neither of the grad schools I narrowed to are part of the Big-3 or WGU. So this is why I am so concerned about the GPA. My list is, Univ of TX PB, LSUS, and Univ of Central Ark as the grad schools I am strongly considering.

Below is a copy/paste from my transcript regarding Cornerstone...

F: GE Electives (In progress)
For TESU course options, go to TES-100 Cornerstone: Lifelong Learning Strategies Course
and General Education Elective Courses
Beginning July 1, 2019 all students who have not completed TES-100 by June 30, 2019 will be required to take SOS-110 (3 credits), in lieu of TES-100. SOS-110 may be used to fulfill the required Information Literacy requirement or as an elective in all undergraduate degree programs.

SH Earned: 16
TES-100 1 SH (Waived)
!! Exception SN-TES100
Cornerstone: Lifelong Learning Strategies

Additional General Education Electives 19 SH (In progress)
!! Exception TES-100 waived (student has to take SOS-110 Take 20

The other issue is timing of payment. TESU advisor told me they don't have any payment plan options so the $3,192 waiver fee would be a little difficult to pay out-of-pocket all at once.

[tjguitar85]

Sounds like you do have the cornerstone waived, I'd take a TECEP and extend that catalog before it expires.