Initial Questions About BA History (T

[mysonx3]

Gen ed electives are anything that counts for gen ed basically any math, science, English, social studies, communications course will count.

Free electives are anything that grants college credit. They are the easiest to plan and don't worry about them. You might just acquire these along the way.

You must take sos-110 and the capstone at TESU. If you also take historical methods that would bring you to 9 credits at TESU. If you take 16 credits at TESU (TECEPs don't count) you avoid paying a $2800 fee. If you feel like you are getting close to the 16 credits you might as while make it 16. You have to take at least 6 credits (2 courses) at the same time to get financial aid. You can take more 6 credits is the minimum.


If you find the other methods for historical methods are only a tiny bit cheaper it might be worth it just to with TESU. Because it will be less hassle and time evaluating and potentially avoid the wavier. So I'd only go with another option for historical methods if it was significantly cheaper or faster.

If you want some motivation to get started start with the free 1 credit sophia courses. You could have 2 credits by the end of the day, which is a good start. Also CSM is a fantastic way to get the math requirement done.

A lot of study.com especially the history overlaps. There was one where you only needed 2 quizzes if you did the right courses. Definitely use this to your advantage. And if by doing this you have too many history courses,they will count for GE electives.


Do you have any prior credit at all? Or are you starting from zero?

Wow, thank you for all the information. This clears up a lot.

So it sounds like the best plan is to go for the 16 credits in a single term (once I have 104 credits) for monetary reasons if I'm understanding you correctly. This would be 3 credits from the capstone, 3 from SOS-110, and 3 from historical methods. The remaining 7 would be a personal choice I assume to finish out the degree. Taking them all at once wouldn't be an issue, I am going at this full time. I think in light of what you said it definitely makes sense to go with TESU for the historical methods and then going for 16 total credits to avoid that $2800 fee.

That's great news about the history courses. I actually decided to go ahead and sign up for study.com to start the two Vietnam courses since it is fresh in my head right now. I recently watched the Ken Burns Vietnam documentary series and took a practice DSST on Vietnam History and did quite well. That was part of where my plan to take the DSST came from, but as mysonx3 pointed out there is just really no reason to do so. I will try and fit in some of those additional history courses on Study.com this month as well to maximize efficiency.

I don't believe I am starting totally from scratch, as I did receive a GED with ACE college credit recommendations in three subjects (Math, Language Arts, and Social Studies). I did a little bit of searching around, as recently as late 2018 I see people mentioning that TESU is honoring these and giving 1 credit for language arts, 3 credits for math, and 3 credits for social studies. It appears the equivalency has changed a couple of times, but regardless I am planning on starting with 7 credits.

Although I haven't created a comprehensive plan for general education yet, I have identified a couple of low-hanging fruit I can knock out for some easy credits, such as the analyzing & interpreting literature CLEP. My understanding is that this is perhaps the easiest CLEP out there, and I'm an above average language arts guy. I believe this is worth... 6 credits? The only thing I'm not 100% sure about is what courses my GED college credits will equate to, and whether or not I am risking duplicating those credits. Does that fear make sense and do you think it makes sense to enroll now and get evaluated so I could start on those things?

You don't need to take all 16 credits in the same term to avoid the wavier. You can but that will be a lot. I would only do that if you have the time to commit to it. You can say 9 credits one term and 7 the next as long as it adds to 16 you should be good. One term is the most cost effective but also most stressful. TESU has a 1 credit Jane Austen course so that to get to 16 because most courses are 3 credits.

If you like Literature the American lit and brit lit cleps are also worth 6 credits. Know a forgiven language those cleps can worth up to 9. Cleps can be easy and quick if you have knowledge on the subject. If you don't have the prior knowledge it can be overwhelming and another method like study where they "teach" you can be helpful. Also dsst is having a special where you get free retakes id sign up for the dsst soon and if you don't pass you get a free retake.

The thing about the DSST is it is one of the few (if not only) ways to meet the non-western/non-us history and still be UL as well. You don't have to take it, but not sure how else to meet this requirement.

Easy credits:
-Free sophia courses
-Free ethics courses
-TEEX (depends on the person, but there are free you can at least try them)
-Any subject you know a lot about CLEP or DSST can be easy
-CSM (also fun and a good course)

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Regarding the GED. The credit recommendations have never changed. But it depends on the score you got. You can earn up to 10 credits, but if you score isn't high even you could earn less. You have to score high on all 4 sections to get the maximum 10 credits. Low scores could get you zero credits.

For GED taken after 11/1/14 to 12/31/2020

3 credits for math with a score of 175 or above
1 credit in humanities with an English score of 175 or above
3 credits science with a score of 175 or above
3 credits social studies with a score of 175 or above

If you took the tests before November 1st you get no credit.


If any of these scores pertain to you. Create an ACE transcript account. Then add the particular GEDs you got credit for to your transcript. The ACE transcript is what you send to TESU but wait until you get a lot of credit on it because you have to pay every time you send it.

Yeah, that GED info makes sense. I already went ahead and created an ACE account last night and added my GED tests to it. They were approved this morning, and I meet the criteria for the 3 math credits, 3 social studies credits, and 1 English credit. I guess the only remaining gray area pertaining to these is what exactly these credits go to. Are they equivalent to some course, such that I could accidentally take another course that is also equivalent? Or are they separate credits all together?

Other than that, I think with the information provided I have a decent understanding of how to go about general education. My plan is mostly to take classes that I am interested in, including some of the math/science/English classes that may traditionally be considered more difficult. Although I am "checking a box" with my degree, I am genuinely interested in learning about things I think are helpful/important/interesting, although I know this will inevitably add additional time.

I will plan on taking that Soviet Union DSST ASAP. Do you happen to know offhand how long the retake promotion applies? Thanks again.

You could potentially duplicate your GED credits, yes. Off the top of my head, I know that CLEP/ALEKS College Algebra will duplicate your math credit. You'll want to double-check before taking a course whether it transfers as the same thing as any course you have already taken.

Promo applies as long as your first attempt is by September 30th. Feel free to PM me if you want info on how I studied for the Soviet Union exam