31, Self-Employed and Less than 30 Credits

[metro345]

Hi Everyone,

Newbie here eeya:

I am currently embarking on this journey to attain my BA/BS in Finance/Real Estate concentrations! Though somewhat daunting, I have less than 30 credits and am not consulting with all omnipotent power of this site, and the mentors and those greater before me that have achieved this, to ask:

What is the absolute FASTEST and HIGHEST Credit Route, via Cleps, Dantes etc., that I can take to attain my BA?

I have somewhat of a worldly knowledge (I read the WSJ, Reuters etc daily) and in my daily work as a RE Broker, am well-versed in contract legalese (though not going for a Law degree at the moment)...

I intend on enrolling (due to financial considerations) into TESC (most probably) but am open to suggestions.

Your forthcoming constructive and insightful counsel is much appreciated.

Please let me know your thoughts.

Thanks and keep up the great work.

[bjcheung77]

Hello, You're already 1/4th of the way there.
Your best bet right now is to create a spreadsheet and fill in all the credits you have and compare it to the requirements of COSC, Excelsior and TESU. This is for reference and tracking of progress purposes.
If you want, you can list your credits here and we'll see what courses you're missing for a degree.

I noticed you mentioned TESC, you must have been already interested in them before they upgraded to University status. That's the main reason I chose them over COSC and Excelsior, and all three should offer the same BSBA, but Excelsior and TESU has a Finance Concentration, COSC has the following.
Business Administration - Charter Oak State College Catalog

In regards to speed to finish, they are similar as the majority of the classes are going to be transferred in using the same sources. The same goes for the price, with TESU edging out COSC to be the cheapest of the 3. For recognition, Excelsior has 3 times the alumni as TESU, and TESU has 5 times that of COSC.

How close or far from a CLEP/DSST Center are you? If you are like me, an hour and a half away, you may opt to use Saylor or Straighterline for your general education and professional business requirements.
Anyways, create or copy one of thoses spreadsheets and update your details and attach it to this thread.
We can compare it to the TESU list: BSBA in Finance Degree Program

PS Notes: You can copy one of many spreadsheets made by dfrecore and customize it to what you have.
That's what I did, and modified it and updated it to contain my completed and yet to complete courses/costs.
Such as this one, the concentration is what you want to change and update what courses you have.
http://www.degreeforum.net/general-educa...ent-3.html

[metro345]

Hi bjcheung77! Thanks for much for the quick response at 4 in morning mind you!!! Sorry, I didn't reply faster, but for some odd reason, I though I would receive an email when you replied to my thread, but just checking back I saw it!!!

I'm a newbie to forums (feel so dumb) and CLEP/Testing out etc. But love learning NEW THINGS so will get rolling on this ASAP.

Thanks again :hurray:

[cookderosa]

Welcome! Testing out for most/all of a degree is a goldmine for self-directed learners. If you're in real estate, you're used to autonomy, I think you'll find this a great fit.

Fastest and highest- CLEP can be used to fill 100% of your general education courses. You can also fill some with the brand DSST (formerly known as Dantes). The catalog of courses w/ CLEP is only around 33 choices, so if you narrow yourself to 1 brand, you're more limited. (perhaps you don't want to learn German lol) So, by opening it up to DSST too, you double the catalog of subjects at your disposal. CLEP and DSST work the same way- find a testing center for each brand, self study, when ready make an apt, go in and take a multiple choice exam. You'll have to be sure that each exam you're taking fits into your degree plan's requirements (you can't ONLY use math for instance, you'll need to plug each requirement) and you can do this as quickly as you can. Some people would tell you 1-2 exams per month is a doable schedule. I would agree. Depending on your free time and existing knowledge, you might be 2-3. It's all very subjective, but you're driving the ship, so it's up to you to set the speed.

Online Classes- there are a lot of options with classes. You can take classes at TESU online. I did this in my degree, but it's expensive to do. There are a number of reasons people do this, they want a certain GPA or for the experience of it, etc. Whatever the case, you're looking at about $2000 per class "all in" if you go that route- their pricing structure is a little complicated, and by the time you add books, that gives you a rough idea. (compared to $100 all in per class using CLEP). You can also use ANY regionally accredited college in the country to take classes (assuming you gain admission). You might find classes at your local community college or university that you want to do- it's all fine, you can transfer them back as long as they plug those holes.

Non-college classes- lots of companies are in the business of writing self paced online classes that are not "college classes" rather they are "ACE evaluated" for college credit. It's a distinction that matters outside of TESU, but if you're headed in that direction, TESU takes these toward your degree. Examples are Straighterline, Study.com, Sophia, ALEKS, and Saylor. These range from dirt cheap (Saylor is only $25 for a 3 credit course) to expensive (Study.com or Straighterline cost more if you're slow- anywhere from $150+ per class)

Freebies- there are a handful of freebie credits out there. These are low hanging fruit in random subjects that you can just grab to fill free elective slots. I think bjcheung77 just made a list yesterday that you can look at. But an example is FEMA, however, that set is no longer accepted by TESU. I think there are a couple others, but in the business degree there are less open slots to fill with free electives, so be sure you're not wasting your time here just because they are free. They are only valuable to you if you can use them.

All the best!!

(PS My 17 year old son is going into real estate. He starts his class this August)