Could use some advice on how to proceeded

[gmagerr]

Hello everyone,

What a great forum. Let me briefly explain my situation.

I have a great job, I'm a manager of Network Operations at a great company. I'm ambitious as hell, so when the Director of IT position became available at my company, I went for it. I met with the CIO, who told me I was a very strong candidate, however the minimal requirement for the position was a Bachelor's degree. So I started looking at going back to school.

I've actually begun the process of going to University of Phoenix, because I have an AA in computer Science for ITT Tech, and UoP was the only school that would transfer the credits from ITT. 44.34 of my ITT credits transferred to UoP. I still need to take the following to satisfy the Gen Ed portion

Remaining Credits: Suggestions
Math 3: CLEP: College Mathematics or College Algebra
Science P/B 3: DANTES: Here’s To Your Health
Humanities 3: DANTES: Introduction To World Religions
Social Science 3: DANTES: Substance Abuse

The adviser at UoP said I could test out of these subjects. One of the resources she mentioned was InstaCert. I googled InstaCert to see if anyone had any negative experiences, and stumbled onto the forum. I started reading about people finishing their Bachelor's degrees through the Big 3 (BTW, is Excelsior still an option?) I think it was credit by exam.

Anyway, I spent a TON of money at ITT (Still paying off the student loan) and I'm very hesitant to incur even more debt by going to UoP. I want to get a BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN BUSINESS with a concentration on Management. Can I accomplish this all via testing out? If so, could someone please help me? I have the Student Audit Report from UoP which list's all of the classes and credits I need, so I'll need help with things like "Which online school do I go with to get the Bachelor's degree", "How do I begin the journey", can someone help me put together a plan to succeed in obtaining the Bachelor's degree? I'm nowhere near lazy, I work 40+ hours a week, have a wife and 2 little girls I support, and like I said, I'm ambitious as hell. I'm looking for some guidance, some help, and this forum seems to be that gold mine.

If all of this is true, I'll save a TON of money going this route as compared to going to UoP, and that sounds very appealing.

Thanks everyone, I'm looking forward to your replies.

[cookderosa]

Hello everyone,

What a great forum. Let me briefly explain my situation.

I have a great job, I'm a manager of Network Operations at a great company. I'm ambitious as hell, so when the Director of IT position became available at my company, I went for it. I met with the CIO, who told me I was a very strong candidate, however the minimal requirement for the position was a Bachelor's degree. So I started looking at going back to school.

I've actually begun the process of going to University of Phoenix, because I have an AA in computer Science for ITT Tech, and UoP was the only school that would transfer the credits from ITT. 44.34 of my ITT credits transferred to UoP. I still need to take the following to satisfy the Gen Ed portion

Remaining Credits: Suggestions
Math 3: CLEP: College Mathematics or College Algebra
Science P/B 3: DANTES: Here’s To Your Health
Humanities 3: DANTES: Introduction To World Religions
Social Science 3: DANTES: Substance Abuse

The adviser at UoP said I could test out of these subjects. One of the resources she mentioned was InstaCert. I googled InstaCert to see if anyone had any negative experiences, and stumbled onto the forum. I started reading about people finishing their Bachelor's degrees through the Big 3 (BTW, is Excelsior still an option?) I think it was credit by exam.

Anyway, I spent a TON of money at ITT (Still paying off the student loan) and I'm very hesitant to incur even more debt by going to UoP. I want to get a BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN BUSINESS with a concentration on Management. Can I accomplish this all via testing out? If so, could someone please help me? I have the Student Audit Report from UoP which list's all of the classes and credits I need, so I'll need help with things like "Which online school do I go with to get the Bachelor's degree", "How do I begin the journey", can someone help me put together a plan to succeed in obtaining the Bachelor's degree? I'm nowhere near lazy, I work 40+ hours a week, have a wife and 2 little girls I support, and like I said, I'm ambitious as hell. I'm looking for some guidance, some help, and this forum seems to be that gold mine.

If all of this is true, I'll save a TON of money going this route as compared to going to UoP, and that sounds very appealing.

Thanks everyone, I'm looking forward to your replies.

I have only 2 minutes- but just a quick answer, whatever you're paying at UoP is too much. Yes you can CLEP out of anything 100/200 level, it's the upper levels that are harder. There are a few tests through DSST but beyond that you either have to take Excelsior exams or TESC exams. Classes are an option too.

Welcome to the board, it's an AMAZING place. I earned my BA from scratch in about 18 months for about 5 grand. You'll get good help here!

[dcan]

First thing you need to do is ask your CIO if a UoP degree will make you promotable or will get you fired. Seriously. I work in IT and I've read so many comments online that, at least in the IT field, managers are ordering all resumes referencing UoP to be shredded with extreme prejudice.

Here's some reading: university of phoenix worthless it degree - Google Search

[ryoder]

I don't know if it is fair but I have seen the same lack of respect for UOP grads. Its probably not deserved but it is what it is.
That is also a very expensive school. I would send my transcripts to TESC for an eval and just go that route. You can get a BSBA CIS at TESC and test out of almost everything. The rest of the courses are done through straighterline.com and Penn Foster which are both inexpensive and at your own pace.

[ryoder]

Sorry, I just read that ITT is NA accredited. TESC requires RA I believe. But I think Exelsior College will transfer NA credit, so check them out.
You can also just CLEP all of the GEN eds now and see what UOP says about it.

[dcan]

Gah, yeah ITT is NA. That's going to be a problem using it in an RA school. If Excelsior will honor them then I strongly advise going that route. It will be far cheaper (on the order of tens of thousands of dollars potentially) and will fill the same "has a degree" block the UoP degree will fill. Plus it won't get frowned upon by managers when you submit resumes elsewhere.

UoP and other for-profit schools (like ITT) are under a lot of scrutiny now for shady or downright unethical practices, like "helping" you get tens of thousands of dollars in student loans to apply towards a degree that ultimately may never do anything for you.

I've also read stories from (supposed) former UoP "advisors" and they openly stated they were high-pressure salesmen, not "advisors" in the typical sense, and their job was to get you to spend as much as possible through student loans, grants, etc. Bottom line is, their job is to get you in debt, big-time.

[sanantone]

A sales pitch from a UoP "advisor" got me to enroll at Axia College which was under Western International University at the time. They are all owned by the Apollo Group. They are not advisors at all, at least not the enrollment or admissions advisors. I wouldn't say their job is to get you in debt, but their job is to enroll as many students as possible so they can make a profit whether it's from the money in your pocket or the government. There is nothing wrong with having a for-profit business, but this has led to the misleading of prospective students by some advisors at some schools because of quota requirements. I was 19, naive, and didn't have any family members who had seriously attended college before. I was misled on what associates program to join and what degrees WIU or UoP had available that would lead me to the job I wanted. Their websites weren't as well developed back then as they are now. I'm glad I left because it has saved me a lot of money.

I have several other complaints about the Apollo Group, but I won't get into that. I will tell you, though, that I have made up nicknames for the company and its products: Lucifer Group, University of Satan, Hades International University, and Anthrax College.

But, seriously, if your employer accepted your ITT degree, then I don't see why your employer wouldn't accept a regionally accredited degree from anywhere.

[Yenisei]

With the low-cost options provided by the Big Three and other schools/exams, there's no reason to take a lot of expensive courses with UoP which will take a lot longer than primarily testing out.

[gmagerr]

Thanks everyone for the replies. Ok, so let's assume my ITT credits don't transfer anywhere. Does anyone have a complete list of courses I would need to take to obtain a Bachelors Degree? Which school or schools must I contact to begin this process. Speaking of the process, what is it exactly? Do I sign up to take classes online, or do I take the CLEP exams and the school just takes the credits from the exams and applies them towards the Bachelor's? Do I enroll, and tell them I want to test out of everything? How does one get started down this path? any step by step guides?

You all are very helpful, thank you. I'm anxious to get started!

[sanantone]

Your courses might transfer to American Military/Public University. They are much cheaper than University of Phoenix.