TESU BA in History Plan - Critiques?

[mysonx3]

Hi all,

I'm pretty new to this, but have been reading the forums and crafting my degree plan. I have no credits to start with but have passed a handful of CLEPs already. Hoping you guys can help give feedback on my degree plan, and hopefully by the time I finish this process I'll be able to help others who are in the position I'm in currently.

So first off, here's my plan (and, for reference, the credit distribution for my desired degree). Bold indicates a test I have already passed. I haven't really planned out my electives because I plan on doing those mostly towards the end (once I've received an official evaluation and know which of the tests that I thought would count towards a requirement are going to have to serve as electives instead), but I did list a couple that I'm pretty sure I'll do either because I think they'll be relatively easy for me (given my specific set of outside knowledge) or because I know I'll need the UL credits.

1. General Education – 60 credits total
   
   1. Written Communication – 6 credits
      
      1. College Composition CLEP (6)
         
   2. Oral Communication – 3 credits
      
      1. Intro to Public Speaking DSST (3)
         
   3. Quantitative Literacy – 3 credits
      
      1. College Algebra CLEP (3)
         
   4. Information Literacy – 3 credits
      
      1. Analyzing and Interpreting Literature CLEP (3)
         
   5. Diversity – 3 credits
      
      1. Introductory Sociology CLEP (3)
         
   6. Ethics – 3 credits
      
      1. Ethics in America DSST (3)
         
   7. Civic Engagement – 3 credits
      
      1. American Government CLEP (3)
         
   8. Knowledge of Human Cultures – 12 credits
      
      1. Intro to World Religions DSST (3)
         
      2. Introductory Psychology CLEP (3)
         
      3. General Anthropology DSST (3)
         
      4. Principles of Microeconomics CLEP (3)
         
   9. Understanding the Physical and Natural World – 4-7 credits
      
      1. Saylor.org General Chemistry I (3)
         
      2. Astronomy DSST (3)
         
   10. General Education Electives – 17-20 credits
       
       1. College Mathematics CLEP (6)
          
       2. Principles of Statistics DSST (3)
          
          
2. Area of Study: History – 33 credits total
   
   1. Western Civilization or World History I & II – 6 credits
      
      1. Western Civilization I CLEP (3)
         
      2. Western Civilization II CLEP (3)
         
   2. American History I & II – 6 credits
      
      1. US History I CLEP (3)
         
      2. US History II CLEP (3)
         
   3. Non-Western History – 3 credits
      
      1. Rise and Fall of the Soviet Union DSST (3)
         
   4. Historical Method/Historiography – 3 credits
      
   5. History Electives – 12 credits
      
      1. Civil War and Reconstruction DSST (3)
         
      2. Intro to the Modern Middle East DSST (3)
         
      3. Western Europe since 1945 DSST (3)
         
      4. History of the Vietnam War DSST (3)
         
   6. Capstone – 3 credits
      
      1. Take through Thomas Edison
         
3. Electives – 27 credits (like I said, not too worried about planning these for the time being - unless y'all think I should be)
   

Now, some specific questions:

1. I've seen some conflicting info on what will/won't count as UL credits, so can anyone tell me approximately where I would be at on that? I'm guessing I'll have to pick up some UL credits on electives, as the only class I've seen consistently listed as UL is the Rise and Fall of the Soviet Union DSST. Any tips on picking up extra UL credits?

2. If I test out of everything but the Capstone (as I would be doing with this plan), will I have a GPA? And will it be based only on the Capstone? How do GPAs work for TESU?

3. Any other problems that you foresee?

4. Any potential spots where it might be faster to do a Study.com/Straighterline/Saylor/etc. course than the CLEP/DSST I've got listed here? I did that for the Saylor chemistry course because I have major science-phobia and would rather take a course with an attached test than a CLEP or DSST that can cover more material, if that makes sense?

Thanks so much!