Experience transferring from the big 3?

[matchmaker]

Hello,

I have no college credit and am interested in testing out of a bachelors degree in psychology or business and moving to a masters program in Marriage and Family Therapy. My only options for a advanced degree in MFT are from Northwestern University, Capella and Northcentral. I have asked all these schools if they would accept students who graduated from these schools and they give me cookie cutter answers, "We consider any student who has the minimum required GPA from a regionally accredited school."

I'm curious how they actually judge these 3 schools and if I test out of most of the degree, if that makes a difference. Does anybody have any experience getting into a good masters program after testing out of a bachelors degree from one of the big 3?

PS. I may want a Bachelors in business instead of psychology because I can see the benefit of having a business degree if I choose to open a private practice.

[ironheadjack]

Search the forum. Many people have went from the Big 3 to well known B&M graduate schools.

If you currently have 0 college credits, you are a ways off from worrying about which grad schools will accept you. Start taking tests/courses and develop a plan....the rest will fall into place.

[TMW2010]

Having a BS in Psych from Excelsior has not impeded me from getting into any of the Master's level programs to which I've applied. Note that their 'cookie cutter' answer has a specific point: "We consider any student who has the minimum required GPA from a regionally accredited school." You have to be careful about fully testing out if you want a GPA; it varies from school to school.

Capella and Northcentral aren't really going to be an issue with a Big3 degree. I'm not seeing an MFT from Northwestern, though I didn't look incredibly hard for it. Also, you have to make sure that the program you go into is acceptable for licensure in your locale.

Also, be aware that going in without a related degree may mean that you'll have to take 'foundation' courses, depending on whatever graduate program you pursue.

[matchmaker]

Thanks for the quick responses. Can I ask why you chose Excelsior over TESC or COSC?

[cannoda]

Hello,

I have no college credit and am interested in testing out of a bachelors degree in psychology or business and moving to a masters program in Marriage and Family Therapy. My only options for a advanced degree in MFT are from Northwestern University, Capella and Northcentral. I have asked all these schools if they would accept students who graduated from these schools and they give me cookie cutter answers, "We consider any student who has the minimum required GPA from a regionally accredited school."

I'm curious how they actually judge these 3 schools and if I test out of most of the degree, if that makes a difference. Does anybody have any experience getting into a good masters program after testing out of a bachelors degree from one of the big 3?

PS. I may want a Bachelors in business instead of psychology because I can see the benefit of having a business degree if I choose to open a private practice.

First, let's get some terminology out of the way. You do not transfer from an undergraduate program to a graduate program. The undergraduate degree is simply a requirement for admission to a graduate program.

To answer your question, it depends. I'm pretty sure that Capella and Northcentral will have no problem with a Big-3 degree. Northwestern, maybe.

I believe that a Big-3 degree is no less of a problem than a degree from any fourth-tier school. However, the source of credit used for the degree may be an issue.

Would your Big-3 degree consist solely of coursework from RA schools? Would it include or depend heavily on credit-by-exam, FEMA, ACE-evaluated proprietary courses and other less traditional sources of credit? Do you have a significant employment background? What do your GRE scores look like?

I'm pretty sure that Northwestern takes a close look at every graduate application and will consider all of the above in an admissions decision. You may also have to deal with the personal biases and misconceptions of the graduate program's admission committee.

[matchmaker]

To clarify, I would want to gain credits mostly by exams. I currently work in the social services field as a matchmaker and dating coach. I have never taken the GRE.

[TMW2010]

Thanks for the quick responses. Can I ask why you chose Excelsior over TESC or COSC?

There were a number of reasons I chose Excelsior over TESC and COSC.
At the time, EC granted a buttload of credits if you did well on the GRE Subject exams. While COSC does this, EC gave more credit and also has specific degree programs; I was able to get a degree in Psychology instead of a Degree in Liberal Arts with a concentration in Psychology.
EC has a great partnership program that reduces costs of any classes that you have to/want to take through them, if you take a minimum of 12 credits per year through them.
And finally, I just liked them better at the time than TESC or COSC. I'm not saying that those aren't great schools at all, EC was just a better fit for ME as a student.

[sanantone]

Excuse me, but I have to lol a bit. Capella and Northcentral will take anyone who meets their minimum requirements. They are basically open enrollment. Their admissions are not the least bit competitive. In the eyes of the public, Capella and Northcentral are actually below the Big 3 because they are for-profit. Right or wrong, but the public has a very, very low opinion of for-profit colleges. If I had to choose between the two, I would definitely choose Northcentral because too many people know about Capella. I bet Northcentral is much cheaper too.

As far as Northwestern goes, the number of pass/fail credits would be more of an issue, if an issue at all, than attending the Big 3. I agree with TMW2010 in that the graduate school might want to see that you've completed a certain number of credits related to psychology, counseling, or a related field. Some will have a preference for degrees in those fields.

As Ironheadjack said, this forum has lots of people examples of getting into graduate programs at traditional universities with their Big 3 degrees. My graduate school wasn't prestigious, but it was at a traditional, state university. I wouldn't call Capella and Northcentral good graduate schools. I'm not saying they're bad, but they are at the very bottom of the barrel when it comes to regionally accredited schools.

[soliloquy]

COSC actually has a list of graduate schools that have accepted their students on their website.

Charter Oak State College - Graduate Acceptances

[matchmaker]

Thanks so much for all your responses. I have decided to go for a social science degree from TESC. The annual tuition is really high, so I'm going to research how this testing works to see if I can take all the tests prior to enrollment. Thanks again...this forum is great!