Fresh Start - Advice / Input on Path?

[Anika]

Hi everybody and thanks in advance for reading! I've been reading from the wiki the last few years and popping in and out of here but things change so often and my situation is a bit unique so figured I'd post and maybe someone in the future could be helped.

So, I've been offered a job working overseas but in order to qualify for the visa I need a Bachelor's.

What I have done for work up until now is doing online classes, essays and general classwork for other people (bad karma, I know, I also volunteer tutor every week). Been doing that for about 4 years so I am super confident that if I worked on an online path I could do really well. I have basically no prior college credit myself (aside from maybe 2 AP classes from high school) and if that means it can be more straightforward doing everything in one school, that'd be great. I make a humble amount right now working independently (which also means I have a lot of free time I can put into this) and could set aside money monthly to fund this and/or take out loans. I have done the FAFSA and have 0 EFC and about 6-7k Pell Grant estimate.

Much of my experience taking classes has been in Business and Psychology but a BSBA seems to be the easiest and fastest to go for so my plan is that.

My college pick so far is TESU just based on how much info there is for it and it is the cheapest but I've also been playing with the idea of doing the required 45 credits through StraighterLine which are necessary to go into Capella's FlexCourse program as it'll theoretically let me take as many classes as I can per 12 weeks but there is little info out there or on the forums about their Bachelor's program and I worry because they are for profit and a seeming nightmare for a lot of grad students.

I'm a fresh slate with a stellar ability to run through online courses and retain information for tests, I hope that can help me but given all this what do you guys think I should do? I understand I can do in-person tests to get out of things but I feel that in a lot of cases maybe an online class would be quicker for me, though I am a bit less educated on those. If there's something I'm missing or ignorant about, I can go read whatever you'd like me to as well!

[davewill]

Actually it's beyond bad karma. It's fraud. It's folks like you that make things harder for the rest of us.

[bjcheung77]

Ah, I see you've fallen victim to those type of quick jobs. I think another member here had a short stint in that field and got out ASAP. Anyways, stick to the Beginners Guide, Read the Wiki and Forum Advice. Get yourself a BALS or a BSBA using the main online providers such as Saylor, StraighterLine, Study.com, free courses, etc, or if you're into testing at a test center, Modern States & CLEP. Oh, download the most updated BALS and BSBA template from dfrecore and get yourself a degree plan in place and work on it!

[Anika]

Actually it's beyond bad karma. It's fraud. It's folks like you that make things harder for the rest of us.

I avoid anything which dips into legal fraud (SAT, using an ID, signing documents, certifications, licensing exams) though I wouldn't deny it may in some way effect general people. I know it may make me a lesser person for doing it, but I can't make ends meet tutoring and my disability keeps me from most other jobs. Not an excuse but that's my reasoning behind it, very simple measures on the part of institutions would prevent me entirely from doing it.

If you had any advice I'd appreciate it, but the bashing I feel is not productive. Deserved, perhaps, but certainly not productive nor changing my mind on the matter.

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Ah, I see you've fallen victim to those type of quick jobs.  I think another member here had a short stint in that field and got out ASAP.  Anyways, stick to the Beginners Guide, Read the Wiki and Forum Advice.  Get yourself a BALS or a BSBA using the main online providers such as Saylor, StraighterLine, Study.com, free courses, etc, or if you're into testing at a test center, Modern States & CLEP.   Oh, download the most updated BALS and BSBA template from dfrecore and get yourself a degree plan in place and work on it!

Ah I see so the standard path! Alright thank you, I'll continue with my work on writing up the path, the dfrecore template is something I will grab and work through in the morning. If I have any questions, comments, or concerns I'll post them here to keep the discussion public and going.

As far as where the degree finishes though, there isn't a huge difference in the schools aside from the notes on the main page and respective school pages of the wiki though huh?

[dfrecore]

I would not do Capella, as it's much more expensive than other degrees. If you want Competency-based, use WGU - they have a BS in Business, and lots of graduates who are happy with the program.

[Anika]

I would not do Capella, as it's much more expensive than other degrees.  If you want Competency-based, use WGU - they have a BS in Business, and lots of graduates who are happy with the program.

Thank you for this, I will read more on WGU but I was unsure as to how many transfer credits they would take for the BSBA as they break it down by which specific credits they allow from where which seems to complicate things more than Capella. Capella is more expensive though which isn't ideal.

I think after I write up the path that you mentioned then I will better understand which of those credits will apply to what universities.