After 24 years, How Close Am I ???

[fuzzair]

In 1986, I graduated from a community college with an Associate of Science Degree in Mechanical Drafting and Design. I never obtained a Bachelor Degree because I pursued other interests.

A few days ago, I sat for a CLEP exam. I chose the Spanish CLEP. I passed with a 74 and earned 12 credits. 12 credits in one day. WOW am I excited.

I would appreciate some guidance on the courses I am missing. I am not sure which exams cover what areas, especially for a Liberal Arts major. I know I am missing upper credits, but I dont know which tests to take.

I was thinking about Charter Oak because it only requires 18 upper credits for Individualized Studies. I was thinking about Individualized Studies or BS Liberal Arts.

I PLAN TO PURSUE A MASTER DEGREE!!!

ANY guidance would be appreciated!!!!!!

My Questions?
Can my Drafting Product Design class fulfill the Fine Arts requirement?
What do I need to graduate?
What are the easiest exams for the areas I need??
What is the most direct route?
What Major/Concentration Area would you recommend?
What am I overlooking?
Any advice?
Degree Plans??????
Where do I plug in these other credits?
Is COSC the right school for me??
Principles of Public Speaking DANTES ???


Mark


Charter Oak State College Bachelor of SCIENCE Requirements
60 of the credits must be in liberal arts subjects


General Ed. Requirements:

Communication
Written Communication: 6 credits required
English 101 3 credits (In Progress BYU)
Technical Writing 3 credits

Oral Communication: 3 credits required
?????

Critical Thinking: 0-3 credits required
?????

Information Literacy: 1-3 credits required
?????

Ethical Decision Making: 3 credits required
Intro to Philosophy 3 credits


Knowledge Areas

US History/Government: 3 credits required
US History II 3 Credits

Non-US History or Culture: 3 credits required
Spanish CLEP 12 credits

Global Understanding: 3 credits required
?????

Literature and Fine Arts: 3 credits required
?????

Social/Behavioral Sciences: 3 credits required
Intro Admin Justice 3 credits

Mathematics: 3 credits required
College Algebra 3 credits

Natural Science: 4-6 credits required
Principles Physics 4 credits

Upper Level Credits 18 credits required
?????


Other Completed Courses
Mostly Community College

Natural Science and Math
MA14 College Trig 4 credits

Social Sciences
Marriage and Family 2 credits
SO10 Economics 3 credits

Administration of Justice
AJ 006 Patrol Procedures 3 credits
AJ 075 Intro to Corrections 3 credits
AJ 002 Concepts/Criminal Law 3 credits
AJ 003 Legal Aspects Evidence 3 credits
AJ 004 PR/Proc Justice System 3 credits
AJ 160 Police Organz Admin 3 credits
Law Enforcement Academy 14.75 credits

US History/Govt
American Govt 3 credits


NON Liberal Arts
HE10 Health Education 2 credits
SO12 Business Law 3 credits
F-AC 180 EMT Cert 3 credits

Drafting and Design
DR18 Mechanical Design 8 credits
DR15 Piping Design 4 credits
DR22 Product Design 4 credits
DR14 Computer Drafting 2 credits
DR14 Drafting 3 credits
DR50 Cooperative Education 4 credits

FAA Aviation Related Credits
Private Pilot 9 credits
(Airplane and Helicopter)
Commercial Pilot 6 credits
Flight Instructor 4 credits

[cookderosa]

Great job on your Spanish exam!! That is clearly the easiest way to rack up major humanities credit in one quick swoop!

<<What is the most direct route?
What am I overlooking?
Any advice?
Degree Plans??????
>>

Out of your list of questions, these are the ones I might be able to offer a some thoughts.
First, since your associates degree is an AAS, you will have to give more attention to the best utilization of credits than someone with an AA. My first associates degree (AOS- same utility as your AAS) was also in an applied field. You need to understand that the classes "in" the specialty will most likely have very little transferability, and for sure won't transfer into liberal arts. For example, I took 9 credits of nutrition in my AOS degree, but was not able to get a single credit to transfer because the credit originated from an applied department (culinary) rather than an arts and science department (biology).
That's not as bad as it sounds- but you need to be aware that unlike AA graduates, you are going to have to explore a lot of possible degree plans before you zero in on one that works the best. I spent a lot of time doing this too, but I took a few CLEPs and hung out here while I kept working it all out.
Since you have a lot of AJ courses, have you considered using that as your concentration? At Thomas Edison Thomas Edison State College the classes you already completed in that area would perhaps be "upper" and completed- while you could go back and test out of the 100 level gen ed classes.

At TESC, the difference between Criminal Justice and Administration of Justice is significant. The AOJ requires a practicum (in your home town- and if you already work in a related field, that is EASY credit) and only 48 general education courses. Thomas Edison State College | BSHS in Administration of Justice Credit Distribution

The Criminal Justice degree requires 60 gen ed courses- BUT you have some (and just got 12 more), and they are cheap/easy to test out of. The other cool thing about the CJ degree, is that they are wide open with CJ electives, and they allow you to use 27 free electives. Thomas Edison State College | BA in Criminal Justice Credit Distribution

If I were going to try and maximize your existing credits, I might suggest you plug in some classes in one of those two. If CJ and AOJ isn't your career choice, you could use your master's degree to zero in on THAT goal, and just use your bachelor's degree to "check the box" in the fastest way possible. (that's what I ended up doing)

As you poke around here, avoid the FEMA classes (free$) for now, I think you are full or close to it for free electives. In the mean time you might just keep finishing up your classes and working on your degree plan. It can be a lot of fun!

[fuzzair]

Jennifer

You are awesome. Thanks for sharing your knowledge. You may have just saved me hours and hours of study for tests I may not need.

I previously reviewed the Criminal Justice section at TESC but totally missed Admin. I was no where near completing Criminal Justice. Admin of Justice, though, might be a possibility.

I was going to call COSC this week to matriculate, but that is on hold. I am definitely going to look into TESC.

Thanks again.

Mark