Fast Masters Degree?

[Rhashad]

UPDATE: WGU is a pretty good school. classes CAN be passed pretty fast but it takes time, lots of time.

[irnbru]

I remember reading about a tiny, tiny percentage of students at the Edinburgh Business School (Heriot Watt University). They booked their exams in a single block, came and sat them all on campus, then handed in their dissertation.

This is almost certainly a route only available to suitable candidates. Last time I looked, I think the nine exams were running at approx ~900GBP each? Then again, one of the best distance-learning MBAs in the world

[msantos]

I did my first "real" one in just under 6-months, however I worked on it for several hours a day, seven days a week. I will graduate with my second "real" one next month; this one took a little longer, around 8-months.

What school did you attend, very interested!

[dcan]

Yeah Shoto, you never answered this!

[Twisted_Fate]

I have this plan, but bear in mind I don't even have my BSLS from Excelsior yet.
My plan was to enroll at Amberton University. They have some distance business degrees, as well as a distance degree in "Professional Development," which allows you to take a variety of courses that they offer. They have 10 week terms. They are cheap (About 700 for a three credit class, regardless of in state, out of state, graduate, or undergraduate) and regionally accredited.

A thing that's been going around is using Vesi courses. They are self paced teaching courses, that one poster on this forum said can be done at about two weeks per course. Amberton accepts 12 credits for transfer. So taking those courses, getting them transcripted, would leave you with 24 credits. Then you can take what you want, including getting certificates in things like Human Resource Managment and other business things. Those certificates can be a part of your degree.

They are a counseling/Business school, so I was planning to take counseling courses to prep for a possible job in Counseling Psychology later on. If they accept the vesi courses, I planned to take two courses per term, which I calculated at around 48-56 weeks + However long it takes me to finish the vesi courses. Good luck.

[Twisted_Fate]

Sorry. I forgot to post the link:
http://www.degreeforum.net/general-educa...pment.html

[msantos]

Yeah Shoto, you never answered this!

I asked shoto in private message he said:

My first Masters Degree (Psychology) took 6-months and the second Masters Degree (MBA) took 9-months; both from Online Degree Programs - California Coast University .

Wow thats impressive!!
Def gonna look it that, I believe it is DETC accredited. (This regional vs national accreditaion is confusing and annoying. Sorry just had to rant )

[dcan]

I was under the distinct impression that RA beat NA regardless of what level of school you are attending. But recently I've seen things written to the effect that RA/NA is not the only split at the grad level and above, and that it is not as relevant. For MBA the issue becomes AACSP vs ACBSP and then whether you are "Top 5" or "Top 10" or whatever ranking out of all business schools in the country. That just means "I graduated from blah blah prestigious school and blah blah" which is impressive to other people who went to the same kinds of schools, and since they are the ones doing the hiring it becomes an issue for executive level work I guess.

For other degrees I'm not sure how much RA/NA becomes an issue, or even if it is very relevant at all, other than for whether or not an RA school would accept you as a PhD candidate with an NA master's -- would they even recognize it as a "legitimate" degree prepping you for high-level research? No idea.

Clarification: RA is THE way to go for undergrad, period. You can transfer RA to NA, but not the other way, so why screw around with NA at all for your undergrad degree? But for grad and beyond I think it may be a bit less straightforward.

[ryoder]

I do not recommend NA to anyone due to the fact that RA schools are the ones most people think about and they will not accept any RA credits for the most part.
But, my friend has a doctorate in physical therapy (DPT) from a well regarded NA b&m school in FL. I think that this may be the exception rather than the rule, however.

[dcan]

I guess it really depends on the industry too. I knew a guy who did a bachelors in IT at UoP then immediately did a master's from UoP as well. But he is military, and his current (and likely future, when he retires) employer (DISA) will probably favor his experience and see the degree as a square-filler more than anything. Some industries are like that.

Not saying UoP is not RA, just that it is frowned upon in most circles the way NA is, but it "works" maybe for some people. But I wouldn't do it myself.