Feeling Pressure to Enroll, Advice Needed!

[dfrecore]

Actually, your GPA DOES matter in terms of being admitted to the school (at least it used to be that way, it may have changed). And you HAVE to send your transcripts. So, what's your GPA?

And if you list your courses here (course number, full course name, # of credits, grade) I can tell you how they'll come in. You have to send your prior transcripts, but TESU will let you bring in D's for anything that's not English Comp or in your Core/AOS (so major). You may have more credit than you think you''ll get. Oh, and there's no time-limit for the Psych degree courses.

[MDW2447]

Here is a list of CWSE schools that offer BSWs online: https://cswe.org/Accreditation/Directory...-Education

Many of these schools accept ACE or NCCRS credit as well.

Thank you. Hopefully it can be done through TESU to save $.

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Actually, your GPA DOES matter in terms of being admitted to the school (at least it used to be that way, it may have changed).  And you HAVE to send your transcripts.  So, what's your GPA?

And if you list your courses here (course number, full course name, # of credits, grade) I can tell you how they'll come in.  You have to send your prior transcripts, but TESU will let you bring in D's for anything that's not English Comp or in your Core/AOS (so major).  You may have more credit than you think you''ll get.  Oh, and there's no time-limit for the Psych degree courses.

Yikes. The cumulative GPA on my transcript is 0.537! 
I'll save you all the details but when I was a freshman I got pregnant, and it was too late to withdraw from classes. At 18 was just too overwhelmed to raise a baby on my own and go to school. I just stopped going to my Biology class/lab/recitation in the fall semester, then tried full-time again in the spring of '00, but eventually stopped going again. I didn't realize at the time how much it would come back to haunt me.

The classes that are 0.00/F are:
-BIO 150 Intro to Bio
-BIO 150 Lab
-BIO 150 Recitation

-GER 101 German I
-MUS 122 Music Theory I
-MUS 124 Aural Skills I
-MUS 141 Class Piano II
-MUS 175 Applied Music
-MUS 314 University Concert Band

I did pick up about 8 credits along the way:
-BIO 151 Anatomy & Physiology 1 / 4.66 Credits / "B"
-TAR 111 Creative Expression & Acting / 3 Credits / "B"
-MUS 124 Aural Skills I / 0.5 Credits / "A"

Not sure how to proceed...apply to TESU and see what happens? Call TESU first and see what would be best?

[bjcheung77]

Hmm, this is going to be tricky as there are two options: Accelerated (requires CSWE) and Regular Full or Part Time
Basically, If you're going for the Accelerated Option, you need to have a CSWE BSW degree - no other option
If you're going for the Regular Full or Part Time, you can try a degree at COSC/Excelsior/TESU or anyone that provides letter grades

Now, essentially, I would recommend you redo your courses at the community college where you have the crappy GPA for those 7 credits
Then you want to use TEL Learning and/or NMJC to get your required prerequisites listed on the page with GRADED courses
The tricky part is, I highly recommend at least 30 graded credits or more for undergrad, essentially the last year of credits

1st option; It'll cost you a bit more than a regular BALS/BSBA degree from the Big 3, but if it's the degree you want, consider a CSWE.
2nd option; You can do a Big 3 BALS/BSBA, just take enough credits for enrolment/residency requirements as these will be graded
TLDR Recap: TEL/NMJC for prerequisites and Big 3 courses for enrolment/residency AND to get you 30+ GRADED credits for GPA

[MDW2447]

Hmm, this is going to be tricky as there are two options: Accelerated (requires CSWE) and Regular Full or Part Time
Basically, If you're going for the Accelerated Option, you need to have a CSWE BSW degree - no other option
If you're going for the Regular Full or Part Time, you can try a degree at COSC/Excelsior/TESU or anyone that provides letter grades

Now, essentially, I would recommend you redo your courses at the community college where you have the crappy GPA for those 7 credits
Then you want to use TEL Learning and/or NMJC to get your required prerequisites listed on the page with GRADED courses
The tricky part is, I highly recommend at least 30 graded credits or more for undergrad, essentially the last year of credits

1st option; It'll cost you a bit more than a regular BALS/BSBA degree from the Big 3, but if it's the degree you want, consider a CSWE.
2nd option; You can do a Big 3 BALS/BSBA, just take enough credits for enrolment/residency requirements as these will be graded
TLDR Recap: TEL/NMJC for prerequisites and Big 3 courses for enrolment/residency AND to get you 30+ GRADED credits for GPA

I'm okay with the regular full time masters. Accelerated would be great, but not if it requires 4 years at a B&M or 20k+ for undergrad.

Only the MSW has required prerequisites. The Masters in Counseling program has no requirements other than a Bachelor's. If it's faster and more cost effective, I'm happy to do that instead. Both Masters programs allow me to apply for licensure to do therapy.

-Either way, you recommend I retake all of the 0.00/F classes? (This would be 15 hours; essentially an entire semester of music classes plus BIO)


-You mentioned it costing only a bit more to consider a CSWE vs. Big 3. I'm likely looking at it wrong, but the cost difference to me seems to be substantial, i.e. 20k+...

-I don't know what TEL is yet. Tried to look it up but search function requires 4 characters.

Trying to weigh the cost/benefit of jumping through all of these hoops, so all of this info is very helpful.
Many thanks.

[dfrecore]

I would check to see if you actually need a BA/BS in Psych - when I last looked, the BSW/MSW didn't really have psych courses in them at all - they were more counseling/sociology type things. So, if you just need a BA in anything, you could actually do a BALS and take the courses you enjoyed the most - it really doesn't matter (like if you enjoy history, you can do that, it will be just as good as anything else).

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I would not retake your courses - it will cost too much, and take way too much time. Instead, I'd just make sure that you choose a school that will not require a GPA to transfer in (TESU looks like it may not matter at this point in time).

I would also consider COSC, since it will be cheaper, even needing 5 regular courses and 1 lab (16cr total) of RA through TEL ($67/cr). There would be a savings of $2739 going through COSC for a BALS/BSLS (even after taking TEL courses). $2848 is the total for tuition & fees at COSC + $1067 for TEL = $4248.

EC would also be cheaper than TESU, and has a BALA/BSLA for $5300.

TESU will cost $6654.

TEL Learning: https://www.tellearning.org/courses-on-demand/

[bjcheung77]

That's right, I recommend doing the "failed" courses again to bring up the GPA. It's not the BA you're after, we can get something at the Big 3 just for the sake of checking the box that you have a Bachelors and using courses at TESU to bring up the GPA just a tad bit... However, It's the Masters that will look at the last 30-60 undergrad credits for admissions to any competitive entry program.

It won't really matter if the majority of your credits to the Big 3 are alternative-test-out credits, they will still look at "some" sort of GPA from graded RA credits. You can boost that GPA significantly by getting rid of the F's... The only way to do it is to redo the course... I would really speak with admissions to the MS Counselling program and ask specifically about GPA.

[dfrecore]

That's right, I recommend doing the "failed" courses again to bring up the GPA.  It's not the BA you're after, we can get something at the Big 3 just for the sake of checking the box that you have a Bachelors and using courses at TESU to bring up the GPA just a tad bit... However, It's the Masters that will look at the last 30-60 undergrad credits for admissions to any competitive entry program.  

It won't really matter if the majority of your credits to the Big 3 are alternative-test-out credits, they will still look at "some" sort of GPA from graded RA credits.  You can boost that GPA significantly by getting rid of the F's...  The only way to do it is to redo the course... I would really speak with admissions to the MS Counselling program and ask specifically about GPA.

Not every MA program is competitive, especially for the MSW.  I would definitely contact the programs you're looking at and see if you truly need to redo those courses.  Especially if you don't live in the state where you took the courses in the first place, or the school no longer offers some, or doesn't have online for those courses, or something like that - not everyone is in a position to go back to the original school and repeat courses.  I certainly wouldn't spend a lot of time and money on them; your time would be better spent taking courses or researching MSW programs.

[MDW2447]

That's right, I recommend doing the "failed" courses again to bring up the GPA.  It's not the BA you're after, we can get something at the Big 3 just for the sake of checking the box that you have a Bachelors and using courses at TESU to bring up the GPA just a tad bit... However, It's the Masters that will look at the last 30-60 undergrad credits for admissions to any competitive entry program.  

It won't really matter if the majority of your credits to the Big 3 are alternative-test-out credits, they will still look at "some" sort of GPA from graded RA credits.  You can boost that GPA significantly by getting rid of the F's...  The only way to do it is to redo the course... I would really speak with admissions to the MS Counselling program and ask specifically about GPA.

Thanks for the reply. 

Perhaps the solution could be to apply for an academic renewal to wipe the bad semester out. According to http://onlinecatalog.nku.edu/content.php...ic-renewal, I could enroll, complete 12 hours (of courses I would need anyway for BA Psych), then apply for the renewal. 

REALLY wish my younger self knew what a mess I was creating!

[bjcheung77]

Stuff happen in life, it's not always ideal (for me as well). As I mentioned in the earlier post, speak with admissions from the MS Counselling program and ask specifically about the GPA. And I do agree with what dfrecore has mentioned as well, you need to do your research.

Further to that, you want to check out of your previous school NKU has Academic Grade Forgiveness as an option... I skimmed their Repeating/Retaking a course option, their policy is less than ideal, but should work. Their link here: https://inside.nku.edu/registrar/registr...ourse.html

[dfrecore]

That's right, I recommend doing the "failed" courses again to bring up the GPA.  It's not the BA you're after, we can get something at the Big 3 just for the sake of checking the box that you have a Bachelors and using courses at TESU to bring up the GPA just a tad bit... However, It's the Masters that will look at the last 30-60 undergrad credits for admissions to any competitive entry program.  

It won't really matter if the majority of your credits to the Big 3 are alternative-test-out credits, they will still look at "some" sort of GPA from graded RA credits.  You can boost that GPA significantly by getting rid of the F's...  The only way to do it is to redo the course... I would really speak with admissions to the MS Counselling program and ask specifically about GPA.

Thanks for the reply. 

Perhaps the solution could be to apply for an academic renewal to wipe the bad semester out. According to http://onlinecatalog.nku.edu/content.php...ic-renewal, I could enroll, complete 12 hours (of courses I would need anyway for BA Psych), then apply for the renewal. 

REALLY wish my younger self knew what a mess I was creating!

The problem with academic renewal is that the school takes the grades out of the GPA calculation - but I'm not 100% certain the schools you transfer to would do the same, since they're left on the transcript.

Also, you have to remove the entire semester, rather than specific courses - so if you got some decent/good grades in a semester mixed with bad grades, you lose EVERYTHING for the semester.  So you need to weight if it's worth doing at all.

Repeating a course would be the actual course you took at that school - but that normally does a better job of "erasing" particular courses.

More research is definitely needed for the master's program, since that will be the thing you have an issue with.  Last time I looked, the MSW program a friend was interested in did not require a high GPA, and was not competitive.  You will want to see what the status is at the school you're considering, figure out if you need a Psych degree or if you can just get a BALS, and ask about how the academic renewal program at the original school would work at their school because usually, master's programs calculate the GPA themselves.