Advice needed for Best Avenue

[CarpeDiem8]

Hi Guys,

I read everything I could on the Degree Forum, which was very informative, thank you for having it.

Was wondering what your recommendations on my path should be for achieving my Masters in Library Science (want to be a librarian). So far the requirements to apply at most universities for an MLS appear to be a GPA between 3.0 to 4.0, and any undergraduate degree is fine, however, a specialization is recommended since employers do look for specific skill sets to fulfill needs. For example, if you wish to head up the IT department within the library, you'll want an undergraduate degree in IT or CS to match this, or want to work in the Children's Dept, have an Education BA degree.

I do not have any degree currently, so I'm starting from the ground up. I have probably about a semester worth of credits from over the years to transfer in.

I am HORRIBLE HORRIBLE at math, but great in English. Therefore, I am looking at TESU's Associate in Arts and then BA in English, History, International Studies or Liberal Studies programs that require very little math. Also, just in case the librarian idea doesn't work out or I can't find a job, I'd like to be able to use my BA to do something else, maybe teach online, not sure of the options out there...

I have looked at Online College Courses That Fit Into Your Degree Program | StraighterLine to get started with some courses that transfer to TESU. I have just been laid off from my job, so I have lots of time to get this all done. Since it has been so long since I've been in school, I doubt I'd be able to test out a whole lot, so I probably need courses. I also want a high GPA to ensure I get into a Masters program.

Any advice, thoughts, etc, for a newbie like me would be great, thanks so much in advance!

~D

[rlw74]

What courses do you have now? We can look at where those apply at TESU.

Since you aren't sure of the major, I would start with any of the General Education classes needed. The free ethics class is a good place to start if you don't have an ethics class already. Then I would use any of the course providers mentioned on this site to obtain the other courses for the 60 hours of General Education that you will need.

You mentioned GPA though and with anything transferred to TESU, there won't be a GPA attached. There will just be a note that it was credit transferred in. I would hone in on which schools you are interested in and see what they require. Some people on this site (myself included) got most of our lower level credits through a community college. TESU doesn't count the GPA but I can produce a transcript showing a GPA for some of my credits. Not saying though that you have to do that. There are plenty of others who got all their credits the way described on this forum and didn't have trouble getting into a Master's Program.

[Notgodot]

Probably the best course of action right now would be to get all your general education courses out of the way while you decide which BA degree you want to pursue. You can list the credits you've already earned, and several folks here are good at figuring out how they'll transfer, so you know what you'd have left to take.

If Aleks gets renewed, that is the quickest way to complete the single math requirement (intermediate algebra). You might even want to go ahead and do that right now. It is possible to complete in a couple of days. Not fun, but possible

[CarpeDiem8]

General Education courses, meaning the ones offered through Straighline or Study.com, correct? Those won't be applied to GPA after transferring to TESU, though, correct? Does GPA even matter at an Associates level anyway if mainly all my courses for BA will be taken at TESU and that GPA matters to Masters, or something else?

Thanks!

[dfrecore]

To get a GPA somewhere, you have to take courses there. If you get your BA at TESU, you will only be required to take a single course - the Capstone. So that one course will constitute your entire GPA at TESU.

Whatever you took previously, that will be your GPA at that particular school.

Grad schools usually look at all of your transcripts, and calculate a combined GPA themselves - although they may have a weighted program, where they look at courses in your major differently than GE and other courses. So, they might say you need a combined GPA of X, and then you also need a "Major" GPA of Y. Or they may only look at the last 30 or 60 graded credits.

If your previous GPA is not good, then you can try to make it better by looking at the grade replacement policy at the school you took the original courses.

Anything you take as a course that is ACE-recommended is not going to have a grade - Straighterline, Study.com, Saylor, TEEX, Ed4Credit, CLEP, DSST, etc. So those won't help (or hurt) your GPA.

Your best bet, if you know for certain that you want to get into a Masters program, is to work backwards from there. Look at a couple of programs you want to get into, see what their requirements are, and then go about getting those requirements. If they want 60 graded credits, you're going to need 60 graded credits. If they want a 3.0 GPA, then you need to build that into your plan.

Then, once you know what you need, you can mix and match - non-graded credits to complete as many requirements as possible, with some graded courses at a 4-yr or CC thrown in. However you need to build it.

[CarpeDiem8]

Thank you everyone!

[CarpeDiem8]

I finally located the graduate requirements for one school that I am interested in:

[ATTACH=CONFIG]2238[/ATTACH]
Master of Science in Library Science (MSLS)
Clarion University's general admission requirements apply, with the following additions:

Overall GPA for the baccalaureate degree of at least 3.00 on a 4.00 scale;
Or a 3.00 GPA for the last 60 credits of the baccalaureate degree with an overall quality point average of at least 2.75; or a 2.75 to 2.99 overall GPA for the baccalaureate degree with a score of at least 412 on the Miller Analogies Test or a combined score of at least 300 on the quantitative and verbal sections of the Graduate Record Examination or new test equivalent; or a graduate degree in another discipline with an overall GPA of at least 3.00.

[bjcheung77]

Is there a specific reason you're choosing Clarion over a few others that might be cheaper/easier/faster in completing the program?
https://www.geteducated.com/online-colle...rs-degrees
30 Most Affordable Top Ranked Schools for an Online Master
2016 Most Affordable Online Colleges for Library Science Degrees
Top 30 Affordable Online Master's in Library Science Degree Programs 2016 - Grad School Hub

[CarpeDiem8]

To become a librarian.

[CarpeDiem8]

Since the requirements of the Masters is to have a certain GPA for the final 60 credits of the bachelors degree, I'm considering obtaining my Associates for General Studies at TESU, then transferring to Fort Hays State U for their Bachelors in General Studies. Then applying to Clarion for Masters.

Has anyone done that type of track with 3 different schools, starting out with TESU, and been successful?