Degree Plan – BS Math Major at Excelsior

[NAP]

Hi Jnewton!

Yes, you can use depths to also fill the gen ed requirements. With the exception of History and Math, the depths have to be more specific than the broad gen ed categories of Humanities, Social Science and Natural Science.

Here is a list of possibilities at Excelsior's website:

Liberal Arts Bachelors FAQ - excelsior.edu

Here is a thread with more explanation and testing ideas to create depths:

http://www.degreeforum.net/excelsior-tho...#post77467

For instance you could create a depth in History (9 LL and 3UL) this way:

US History I CLEP
US History II CLEP
choose another history exam, like Western Civilization LL, Vietnam War LL, or Soviet Union UL (adding another UL credit here could be helpful overall)
Civil War DSST UL

Welcome to the forum! Let us know, if you have more questions.

[NAP]

Thanks for the offer; it is always nice to know about more options.

With the change in GRE policy, my degree plan has changed considerably. I am only a few requirements away from finishing my bachelor's degree at Excelsior College. I am not able to take online courses (too structured), so earning a degree almost entirely through credit-by-exam and no (or very low) residency requirements has been perfect for me.

[NAP]

Business Ethics & Society DSST

I was concerned about choosing this exam, since I do not have any background in the subject - no business experience or courses/exams. I was familiar with some of the topics through studying for US History II and American Government CLEPs and the philosophy part of Humanities CLEP. Plus, through the fact that it is a new and growing field over the past 20-30 years, I have heard about some of these events on the news and in every day life. I studied for 2 weeks using the following resources:

Peterson’s Guide to Mastering DSST Exams ebook for Ethics in America – read through and it was more philosophy than ethics to me, so I decided to change to the Business Ethics exam
IC flashcards, notes, and links
Business Ethics and Society DSST Study Guide - Free-Clep-Prep.com – looked through a couple websites and especially used textbook links for quizzes and glossary
I needed more help understanding the differences and main points of the philosophies, so I found these explanations:
Chart - Ethical Theories Compared
Utilitarianism - Utilitarianism
Kantianism - Kant's Ethics
Official DSST fact sheet and practice test

I would have liked a little more reading for overview/depth, glossary to not be easily tricked, scenario examples, and current events/previous newsmaking happenings.

It helped to know it would take some time to read through and analyze all of the scenarios, which were each a few sentences long (not nearly the same length as A&I Lit). It took an hour to answer 100 questions.

Scored 458 and my last UL credits are complete!


Social Sciences & History CLEP

I was not planning to need this test. If I had known, I would have taken it shortly after I took the 2 US History and American Government CLEPs 3 years ago. Up to this point, I have purposely avoided the social science subjects. (I guess you can pick up a lot of it through daily living.) I studied for 3 weeks. So much is covered in the study guides, it made me feel like I needed a lot more and deeper study. It turned out to be my kind of test, though, just know a little bit about a lot of subjects.

REA study guide with practice tests – great preparation
Peterson’s CLEP Success ebook
Official CLEP Study Guide – I was getting about 2/3 correct on REA and this practice exam.
Read through all 10 practice tests in the social science and history category of the official study guide – This was extremely helpful.

I recognized quite a few questions from all of the practice tests I read. There were lots of straightforward vocabulary and facts questions and lots of charts. Also, the test was put in order by category, so my brain did not have to jump around between topics, and it gives the correct amount of questions on each subject.

Scored 75 and have 6 more credits for 110 total!


Personal Finance DSST

I do not have any personal experience with these topics. My parents taught me a lot as they were going through each purchase. It is also a hobby of mine to learn about all of this, so I can help my parents with their financial planning. Over the years, I have read a lot of Suze Orman’s book “Road to Wealth”, which has questions and answers about most of these subjects. Generally, I do not like to read, but I usually do read the fine print of financial and legal documents. I have also watched some of the small claims court television shows. It is pretty neat to have the opportunity to earn college credit in a topic that I already know about. I am not sure if it was my lack of specific knowledge, but the questions and answers were not worded as clearly as I expected. I also noticed that I have been taught to make good financial decisions – like avoid certain fees – so I could not answer with certainty what the fees were for or when they were charged.

I studied for one week and scored a 463 by using these resources:

IC flashcards
2 textbook sites for chapter summaries, flashcards, glossary, practice tests -
http://glencoe.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/007...ent_view0/
Personal Finance
Looked through a few things at these 2 websites -
thisMatter.com: Fundamental Tutorials about Consumer Finance, Investments, and Economics
Personal Finance DSST Study Guide - Free-Clep-Prep.com
Official DSST fact sheet and practice test

I only have 1 class and 1 exam of my choice left to finish my bachelor’s degree!

[HorseManiac]

...I only have 1 class and 1 exam of my choice left to finish my bachelor’s degree!

AWESOME!!! :hurray: :hurray: Congrats on being so close to the finish line! You can do it!

[NAP]

LSU Analytic Geometry & Calculus I – 5 credits

I finished this correspondence course. Except for the 2 refresher lessons at the beginning, it was all new information for me, since I did not have this class in high school. Credit-by-exam is so perfect for me and taking courses is a much longer, harder process for me. I was enrolled for the full nine months, but overall I spent about 25 weeks and over 250 hours on the homework of 24 lessons and studying for the 2 exams. (Note: Both exams - midterm and final - are 4 hours long.) It was tons of work to complete the practice problems on the homework, but obviously so important to understand for the exams.

It would have helped if I had a stronger background in trigonometry, at least, so I would not freeze up every time I saw “sin” or “cos”. As I was starting to look for more resource books for the next course in Calculus II, I realized that the last few lessons of this first course were already Calculus II, so that is why my other resources did not cover the material for those lessons. Seeing so many calculus guides made me realize that I did not provide myself with enough support for this course. It did not have to be an agonizing struggle to do the homework. I could have gotten myself more resource books with more practice problems to see more examples than the textbook offered. I have taken a few correspondence courses and have never relied on the teacher for much help. I did not push this teacher either, so I do not know if more support was available that way or not.

I found out that I do actually like the math part of calculus; there was just something about the learning experience that seemed to make it harder than necessary to understand it. I needed more support or step-by-step on the how-to part and still some information about where this was leading in the big picture.

When I took the final, I felt better overall than I had about the midterm. I had learned from the midterm that the problems on the real test would seem harder than the homework and practice test, which I thought were already really hard. I also learned from my experience on the midterm that actually getting the correct answers (I know I was making a lot of simple math mistakes) was probably secondary to showing an understanding of the concepts. Who knew college math wasn't all about answering the problems correctly?!?! This time I made a point of showing formulas and things I knew about solving the problems, even if I was having difficulty seeing how to get to the real answer. I really have learned a lot. I was also counting on a lot of favor with the teacher and with God to get a good grade! I got an A!

Resource List:

Schaum’s for Calculus
Texas A&M Calculus I tutorial - mindex.htm
Another Math tutorial site - Pauls Online Math Notes
Old Calculus textbook
Previous College Algebra & Analytical Geometry coursework and textbook
Schaum’s for Trigonometry
Calculus for Dummies – easy to understand language for tips and concepts
Tutor – meetings as needed – In many ways, this helped with relearning basic math skills and encouragement that it wasn’t my imagination that this was hard!

I just started the Analytic Geometry and Calculus II LSU correspondence course for 4 credits. I am going to try these books, too:

Schaum's 3,000 Solved Problems in Calculus
The Calculus Lifesaver: All the Tools You Need to Excel at Calculus
How to Ace the Rest of Calculus: The Streetwise Guide, Including Multi-Variable Calculus
The Humongous Book of Calculus Problems: For People Who Don't Speak Math

[kvndoom]

Just want to say congrats! Come August 26th, when I take my Statistics final, I will have completed all my credits for my BS in Electronics Engineering Technology from Excelsior. I'm taking 3 classes simultaneously to wrap it all up, and 2 of them end on the 19th. I know how exciting it is to be this close!

Do you plan to come up to NY for commencement next July? I plan to take my family up there for a vacation so I can march. I feel like I've earned it!

[NAP]

Thank you so much! A BIG congratulations to you, too!!! Yes, it has been really nice to start to see the end in sight, even though, I am probably going to need a year to take this last course. I also want to go to the ceremony next year, and I am already looking forward to it. I went 2 years ago for my AS and it was a great experience! I hope you'll be planning a celebration for your accomplishment this month and another at the ceremony. It was an amazing feeling to get to walk across the stage to officially graduate! It will also feel very real when you see your name on your college diploma in a few months. We have a lot to be excited about!

Please be sure to post when you are done in a few weeks(!), so that we can celebrate with you. I think others will be interested in your degree plan and future plans, too.

[NAP]

LSU Analytic Geometry & Calculus II - 4 credits

I have just finished this correspondence course. All of my previous comments about the Calculus I course apply for this one, too - see post above. Again, I was enrolled for the full nine months, but I didn't actually study for that long. There were 21 lessons and I averaged about 10 hours over 1 week for each and added time to prepare for the exams. (Note: Both exams - midterm and final - are 4 hours long.) There were parts of the course that seemed easier than Calculus I and other parts seemed just as hard. I definitely needed outside resources to help understand the concepts and problems. I got another A!

I used a lot of the same resources as I did for Calculus I and these in particular:

Calculus II & III tutorial - Pauls Online Notes : Calculus II
Calculus for Dummies – I thought I had outgrown this during Calculus I, so I was surprised to be able to use it again for several important lessons and new concepts.
Tutor – meetings as needed – I am grateful to have the back-up and support. I learned that I have a hard time drawing in 3-D.

I liked all 4 of the extra books I bought for this course (see Calculus I post), but I probably used these 2 the most -
Schaum's 3,000 Solved Problems in Calculus
The Humongous Book of Calculus Problems: For People Who Don't Speak Math

I didn't use it, but Khan Academy would probably be another good resource to add.

I also just found this link, which looks helpful for both courses: https://www.math.lsu.edu/~aharhad/math1550.htm


Marketing CLEP

Thank you for suggesting this exam as a good choice for a free elective. I studied for about 8 days and got a 72 on the exam. Parts of this subject are familiar due to our consumer-society, but other parts are new terms.

Resources used:

REA study guide - excellent as main study source - The practice tests seemed tougher than usual; I was only getting 60% correct.
Snazzlefrag's notes - thank you! - great list of terms to know
http://www.free-clep-prep.com/support-fi...-notes.pdf
Practice quizzes - Defining Marketing for the Twenty-First Century
Official practice test - 85% correct and many similiar questions on real exam

Elasticity extra help -
External: Elasticity of Demand - KnowThis.com
Economics Interactive Tutorial: Elasticity
Price Elasticity of Demand | Price elasticity | Khan Academy
Total Revenue and Elasticity | Price elasticity | Khan Academy

Looked through a few things at these sites -
Principles of Marketing CLEP Study Guide
Business 102: Principles of Marketing Course - Free Online Video Lessons | Education Portal
SparkCharts


Now, it's time to enjoy the completion of my bachelor's degree!!!

[NAP]

My degree plan has changed a lot since my original post, so here is my final list of credits and costs.  Please see the end of this post for further updates.  

Bachelor of Science Degree in Liberal Arts
with an Area of Focus in Biological/Life Science at Excelsior College

My Transcript and Costs

Course/Exam - credit - grade/score

English Composition I summer course -€“ 3 credits -€“ A

Humanities:

Spanish I correspondence course – 4 credits - A+
Analyzing & Interpreting Literature CLEP -€“ 6 credits -€“ 78
Humanities CLEP - 6 credits - 67
Business Ethics & Society DSST - 3 upper-level credits - 458

Social Sciences/History:

US History I CLEP -€“ 3 credits -€“ 77
US History II CLEP - 3 credits -€“ 78
Civil War & Reconstruction DSST -€“ 3 upper-level credits -€“ 73=A
American Government CLEP -“ 3 credits - 72
Social Sciences & History CLEP - 6 credits - 75

Natural Sciences/Math:

College Algebra II & Analytic Geometry correspondence course - 3 credits -€“ A
Astronomy DSST - 3 credits -€“ 57=A
Chemistry CLEP - 6 credits -€“ 67
Biology CLEP - 6 credits - 77
Natural Sciences CLEP -“ 6 credits -€“ 73
College Math CLEP - 6 credits - 76
Biochemistry, Cell and Molecular Biology GRE score 580, 69th percentile, 12 lower-level and 12 upper-level credits earned
Intro to Statistics ALEKS - 3 upper-level credits - Pass
Analytic Geometry & Calculus I LSU correspondence course - 5 credits - A
Analytic Geometry & Calculus II LSU correspondence course - 4 credits - A

Other:

Information Literacy EC online course -€“ 1 credit -€“ Pass
Orientation EC online course -€“ 0 credit
Fire Service Supervision NFA Q318 -€“ 1 credit - Pass
Introduction to Computing DSST -€“ 3 credits -€“ 72=A
Information Systems & Computer Applications CLEP - 3 credits - 76
Management Information Systems DSST - 3 upper-level credits - 73=A
Substance Abuse DSST - 3 upper-level credits - 471
Health DSST - 3 upper-level credits - 479
Personal Finance DSST - 3 credits - 463
Marketing CLEP - 3 credits - 72

Depths were in Biology and Math.

My feedback and resources used for each exam: http://www.degreeforum.net/excelsior-tho...#post52148

Credits for Associate in Science Degree - http://www.degreeforum.net/excelsior-tho...lsior.html

Total Cost:

20 CLEP/DANTES exams plus $15 test center fees - $1805
2 other exams - GRE and ALEKS - $170
study guides and materials - $1000
class ring and celebration dinners -€“ $875
6 correspondence courses -€“ $3400 (not required by EC, could have substituted exams)
7 transcripts -€“ $115
application fee -€“ $75
enrollment fee - $895 (for associate degree)
AS graduation fee -€“ $480 ($495 - $15 for 1 credit course discount)
re-enrollment fee -€“ $440 (lasts 1 year - for bachelor's degree)
2 Student Service Annual Fees - $950 (for second and third year of enrollment for bachelor's degree)
BS graduation fee -€“ $495

Bachelor's Degree Total = $10,700 ($89 per credit) plus 2 trips to graduation ceremonies

Keep in mind there are lots of ways to save even more time and money than I did!

Also, remember several policies have changed since I enrolled for my degrees in 2010.  I needed to pay to stay enrolled in order to keep locked-in to my academic policy date.  Being enrolled helped in some cases, but it was not a complete guarantee of the policies I needed for the degree I wanted.  For new students, a capstone course requirement and English II have been added.  Excelsior no longer accepts the Subject GRE for credit.  Intro to Computing DSST and new version of Information Systems & Computer Applications CLEP are now being considered duplicates.  I was also planning to take the Physical Science DSST to finish my bachelor's degree, but I was told that it would duplicate Chemistry and Natural Science CLEP.

I hope this helps with creating a degree plan.  Be sure to download the latest school catalog and Student Guide to Credit by Exam:  http://www.excelsior.edu/publications

[NAP]

Matrix Algebra

I needed to learn a little about Matrix algebra. It helped to look through these sites and books after Calculus II.

Matrix Algebra - HMC Calculus Tutorial

S.O.S. Math - Matrix Algebra

Matrix Algebra Tutorial

Khan Academy videos - Linear algebra | Linear algebra | Khan Academy

Schaum's Outline of Linear Algebra - Schaum's Outline of Linear Algebra, 5th Edition (Schaum's Outlines): Seymour Lipschutz, Marc Lipson: 9780071794565: Amazon.com: Books


R Statistical Programming

Thank you for all of your help in tracking down great resources for learning about R. This is the list that I used, plus I have more links to try later.

Code School - Try R

R Tutorial

An Introduction to R

PSU Online class videos and Simple R pdf
https://onlinecourses.science.psu.edu/stat497r/

Also see this thread: http://www.degreeforum.net/general-educa...ourse.html