degree and school RECCS please

[enantiodromia]

While others are the experts I am thinking that you will find Sophia to be very easy for you, you might be able to finish some of the courses in a couple days or few days rather than weeks.  Also, I have been reading the posts and asking questions on the XAMK free RA courses and I haven't seen anyone recommend those to you, I wonder if there is a reason this idea hasn't been suggested??

Really? You're right, since it's open-book, being able to go through each course in the matter of days is definitely do-able. However, I'm going to assume my HS gives me a hard time (which is honestly the norm), just for prevention reasons and therefore more steadiness. I've spent last year working as a Social and then Content Manager for an online eco-fashion magazine while partecipating in an international climate justice non-profit organization group, all while going to school, and I spent part of the previous year (2 years ago) doing Background work for an HBO TV show for 3 months, though I simply had to catch up with school once I went back so it was easier. I say this because I'm really excited I can finally put these newly acquired time management skills to use for such an important goal!
Also, did you say free RA? Wow thank you so much for mentioning that !! There isn't much anywhere about it yet, but it surely is a big treasure. Once I looked it up and went through the Syllabus of "Introduction to Video Games Creation" I immediately knew I had to get that certificate. I used to work with Blender and other similar 3D softwares to create Mod packs for The Sims 4. So I'm veery thankful you shared that !!

If you start your 16 credit term in September, you'll be done in November (or December/January if you have to file a capstone extension). This will give you a graduation date in either March or June: https://www.tesu.edu/current-students/gr...nformation

While others are the experts I am thinking that you will find Sophia to be very easy for you, you might be able to finish some of the courses in a couple days or few days rather than weeks.  Also, I have been reading the posts and asking questions on the XAMK free RA courses and I haven't seen anyone recommend those to you, I wonder if there is a reason this idea hasn't been suggested??

XAMK is mostly health/fitness and business classes. https://www.xamk.fi/en/openstudies/ This doesn't sound like what enantiodromia would want to take, though I could be mistaken. It would only be about $200 (foreign credit evaluation fee at ACEI) for as many courses as you can take at XAMK. But, with so many credits coming from the ACTFL exams, it's probably not necessary.

Thank you so much for all the helpful tips and guidance! I'm taking notes and bettering my degree plan in accordance. I've came up with multiple variations of that spreadsheet but I'll only post the last one because it seems to be the best one.. or the least wrong one.. I keep making multiple mistakes so I honestly apologize in advance to everyone once again.

The peculiar thing about this degree plan is that my only source of RA credits would be coming from XAMK, because not only is it saving me hundreds of € but also time spent studying subjects I'm nowhere as much interested in as much as I am in game-developing. Only thing that I forecast may cause an issue is the timing of the ACEI evaluation, which has to transcript at least 14 RA credits for me to be able to appy for the August Term at TESU. I've read somewhere here that 5 ECTS equal approx. 15 US CR at TESU and I've read on ACEI's website that the Standard Processing is 7-10 days, so I should be on time if I ask them for a transcript 3 weeks before the application date, right? If that's the case then is there still any mistake within my degree plan? I've added a couple courses on the AOS so that the credits would be coming from more sources and more of them would be UL, just in case.

Take your time to formulate your "plan".  The earliest you can graduate at TESU is AFTER your high school graduation and earliest to apply is after 18 years of age.  They require either a high school equivalent such as the GED or similar and, if you are required, an English language test, etc.  TESU https://www.tesu.edu/admissions/apply-in...al-student and https://www.tesu.edu/admissions/undergrad-admissions

So, as per my previous info.  Complete the high school courses as those are graded, these ACE/NCCRS credits are not, you just need 70% to pass the courses.  I would also try to shoot for 3 classes/month vs the two you have, as some of these are short and sweet, you can probably finish them on a weekend.  You need to invest in a second monitor for multi-tasking and for open book quizzes/exams for Sophia/TEEX courses.

In fact, the easiest way to get things done is to "double up/overlap" courses.  So, if you're taking some courses at your Italian school, take the same courses at Sophia or MS/CLEP.  You can take the exams after your course is done.  For example, if you're taking Intro to computers.  You can take the Sophia.org Intro to IT or the MS/CLEP exam at the same time for preview/review.

Yes, thank you so much for the tips! I'll take your advice and will certaintly give my best at my own school first. The HS diploma req. totally flew over my head, I'm so sorry. I'm not upset about it though, when I have my graduation isn't important but what is important to me is that I'd much rather enroll and work for the college credits prior my HS diploma, 'cause anything later will be an extremely hard time, even after all my HS finals...
Also, I'm not sure I'll be able to overlap courses as half of the topics we've already covered and the other we probably won't even ever mention, because most of our classes is deeply within the humanities field (which is why I chose this concentration in the first place) and because we tend to spend a very long time (some time months!) on each topic. But I'll try my best to use this time-saving method whenever I can as well as the second monitor which is also another useful time-saving method. I hadn't realized I could use Sophia.org to help me study for my school so thank you so much!

RE:  XAMK, yes, that makes so much sense when she has the chance at all those language credits.  I noticed OP was going to take Latin at TEL and the XAMK Video Game Creation course(s) came to my mind as an option to earn the RA credit for about the same price (and possibly faster bc self-paced).  My study partner thinks those would be really fun to fill out a few extra courses (not sure how the free electives are working now with the new rules for L.A. but I think we have more leeway than we used to) and also get the RA credits.  OP is on a straighter track than we are, maybe we'll see her at the finish line .

Can't thank you enough for recommending XAMK!! Although I understand I could take multiple ACTFL exams, OPIc Italian+LPT,RPT,WPT Italian is enough to help me meet most of my reqs for the AoS; therefore my only lacking would be in not having 14 RA CR and I think taking multiple TECEPS in a time crunch would be stressful and expensive.. So yes, other than me enjoying Videogame creation, this is another reason why I've decided to go for XAMK. Hopefully my new degree plan makes sense this time and I can proceede without having to revamp it too much again. I've basically filled out all the electives with XAMC credits (throwing in some sophia courses as well in case a single source isn't okay) and hopefully that is not a problem 'cause time-wise and price-wise I think it's very well-suited for me (if it works ugh!).

[rachel83az]

Awesome! I'm glad that you're excited about the XAMK certificate. You can get the first 5 or so ECTS within a day or two. Modules 10-14 or 15 are very brief sections that either have a quick quiz or a short (approx. 1000 words) essay. The modules that use Blender will probably take a bit longer. I think you've got the right idea as far as when to take the XAMK courses.

Another thing to consider, though, is that it can take up to a month for your ECTS to get added to your XAMK transcript. In addition, if you ONLY sign up for the Video Game Design certificate, accessing your XAMK transcript can be a bit problematic because you don't gain access to the Learn system, which also means you don't have access to Peppi (where your transcripts are stored). They will email the transcripts every 3 months, but this is an issue for the timeline that you have set up.

To get around this, sign up for ANY other XAMK course. I think that "Sustainable Development in Healthcare" would be the best option, but you choose whichever one is most attractive to you. You do NOT have to pass this extra course! But I would suggest at least attempting one exam (without study) to show that your account is "active".

Once you've signed up for the extra XAMK course, you'll have access to download your transcripts from Peppi whenever you want. You won't have to wait until the Game Design transcripts are sent out to everyone. I don't quite understand why XAMK does it that way, but at least it can be dealt with easily enough.

Per ROYISAGIRL's experience, they brought in the XAMK Video Game Design courses as CAP- courses. https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...#pid336440 These should work as liberal studies credits, as you have in your first plan, but TESU might put them in as free electives instead. If they do, that should be okay. ENS-200 can move down to the AOS, BIO-101 goes up to the science. Possibly Greek Philosophers goes down to the AOS and Art History II moves to replace it. You don't need to change your plan to reflect this. I'm just noting how it might be.

Your second plan looks pretty solid right now. Except I just realized that you're only allowed to use 6 credits of 100-level courses in your AOS and I wasn't sure how TESU brings in the LL credits for the ACTFL exams. So, I went checking and finally found equivalencies for Spanish. Italian should be about the same, though with ITA prefix instead of SPA. https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...TS-to-TESU As a native speaker, you should score higher and possibly get some 200-level credits (I think). But that's still potentially 12 credits of 100-level courses. It should be okay, though. 6 credits can go up to Knowledge of Human Cultures while Ancient Greek Philosophers and Visual Communication go to the AOS (because they are 200-level courses). ENS-200, CIS-107, and 3 credits of LL ACTFL can also shuffle around.

Just for a little more leeway, consider swapping out Intro to Sociology (100-level) for the 3 credit Conflict Resolution (COM-299 Special Topics Communication). Both Intro to Sociology and Conflict Resolution will work in Knowledge of Human Cultures, while Conflict Resolution is also a 200-level Humanities course. They're roughly the same difficulty level as one another and the topics aren't entirely dissimilar, so you don't have to change up your plan for which order to take the Sophia courses.

If you're going to be starting Sophia this month, make sure you use the code Back2School to get your first month for only $40 instead of $79. The coupon expires on the 30th of September.

[enantiodromia]

Awesome! I'm glad that you're excited about the XAMK certificate. You can get the first 5 or so ECTS within a day or two. Modules 10-14 or 15 are very brief sections that either have a quick quiz or a short (approx. 1000 words) essay. The modules that use Blender will probably take a bit longer. I think you've got the right idea as far as when to take the XAMK courses.

Another thing to consider, though, is that it can take up to a month for your ECTS to get added to your XAMK transcript. In addition, if you ONLY sign up for the Video Game Design certificate, accessing your XAMK transcript can be a bit problematic because you don't gain access to the Learn system, which also means you don't have access to Peppi (where your transcripts are stored). They will email the transcripts every 3 months, but this is an issue for the timeline that you have set up.

To get around this, sign up for ANY other XAMK course. I think that "Sustainable Development in Healthcare" would be the best option, but you choose whichever one is most attractive to you. You do NOT have to pass this extra course! But I would suggest at least attempting one exam (without study) to show that your account is "active".

Once you've signed up for the extra XAMK course, you'll have access to download your transcripts from Peppi whenever you want. You won't have to wait until the Game Design transcripts are sent out to everyone. I don't quite understand why XAMK does it that way, but at least it can be dealt with easily enough.

Per ROYISAGIRL's experience, they brought in the XAMK Video Game Design courses as CAP- courses. https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...#pid336440 These should work as liberal studies credits, as you have in your first plan, but TESU might put them in as free electives instead. If they do, that should be okay. ENS-200 can move down to the AOS, BIO-101 goes up to the science. Possibly Greek Philosophers goes down to the AOS and Art History II moves to replace it. You don't need to change your plan to reflect this. I'm just noting how it might be.

Your second plan looks pretty solid right now. Except I just realized that you're only allowed to use 6 credits of 100-level courses in your AOS and I wasn't sure how TESU brings in the LL credits for the ACTFL exams. So, I went checking and finally found equivalencies for Spanish. Italian should be about the same, though with ITA prefix instead of SPA. https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...TS-to-TESU As a native speaker, you should score higher and possibly get some 200-level credits (I think). But that's still potentially 12 credits of 100-level courses. It should be okay, though. 6 credits can go up to Knowledge of Human Cultures while Ancient Greek Philosophers and Visual Communication go to the AOS (because they are 200-level courses). ENS-200, CIS-107, and 3 credits of LL ACTFL can also shuffle around.

Just for a little more leeway, consider swapping out Intro to Sociology (100-level) for the 3 credit Conflict Resolution (COM-299 Special Topics Communication). Both Intro to Sociology and Conflict Resolution will work in Knowledge of Human Cultures, while Conflict Resolution is also a 200-level Humanities course. They're roughly the same difficulty level as one another and the topics aren't entirely dissimilar, so you don't have to change up your plan for which order to take the Sophia courses.

If you're going to be starting Sophia this month, make sure you use the code Back2School to get your first month for only $40 instead of $79. The coupon expires on the 30th of September.

Great!! I'm genuinely so excited, ahh it's such a relief, knowing I'm at least somewhat on the right path. Honestly I didn't even notice I'd posted the first plan as well with the second, so I got pretty confused when you mentioned it hahah! Everyone please pretend you haven't seen the first one, its messier and embarassing :') Thank you soso much for the tips and for correcting me; I wouldn't have been able to do anything correctly without everyone's help in this precious forum. I've tweaked the degree plan a little in accordance to your tips! I enrolled in the VideoGames XAMK course yesterday so now I'll sign up for an extra course and will be attempting its exams with no studying envolved from time to time. Signed up for Sophia as well today.. 34 Euros, wow.. that's a steal !!

My journey starts today! I'll keep you updated on how it goes!

[rachel83az]

Awesome! Good luck! I'm sure you'll do great!

A few more things:

• TESU does not care what grade you get at Sophia or Study.com, so long as it's at least 70%. All they show on your transcript is "CR", which means that you get credit for that class.
  
• There are some graduate schools that might care about those grades in the future (if you go that route) but there are also a lot of graduate schools that don't care. Either way, I wouldn't worry about that right now. Just get the BALS first.
  
• When you log into the XAMK Learn system, the link for Peppi is on the right-hand side, under the Quicklinks tab. The direct link is https://opiskelija.peppi.xamk.csc.fi/ This is where you can see how many ECTS have been entered into the system for you and where you can download transcripts. There won't be much there at first, of course, until you've completed some courses.