Help please

[Madxhatter]

Hello all I am new to this forum. Please bear with me as I type this on a cell phone as my computer at work will not allow access to the forum.

I have applied and been accepted to TESU. I originally enrolled with the intent of the Bachelors of science in homeland security. My military ed. transferred over and I did a bunch of FEMA classes so I sit at/around 50 hours complete in the bachelors program. However, I was advised by my ed counselor (military) to do my associates first due to work conflicts. So I switched to the associates that is associated with that program and am looking at roughly 38 hours completed. Ironically all core classes (English and math) the subject matter I am horrible at is mainly what I require.

Now the issue is after due consideration and job searching (feeling out my options as I look towards retirement) I have realized that there are few jobs in that degree field that I will meet physical and age requirements for upon retirement (I will be 39). So I was considering switching paths to a business associates with plans to move into a bachelors program upon completion of associates. However, as the associates that coincides with homelands degree does not transfer well to a business degree I lose a lot of credits. What do y'all think is the best path?

Also is straighter edge really worth it to get the ACE credits for math and English? (As these are my horrible subjects).

Any help is greatly appreciated and if needed please ask for clarification as I'm sure this is not even remotely grammatically correct as I'm using a cell phone lmao!

[Madxhatter]

Anybody got any advice?

[dfrecore]

Getting a business degree at any of the Big 3 is a good plan, if that's what you want to do. Yes, you will lose some credits (and TESU has the least amount of flexibility for the plan, but is also probably the cheapest and quickest to get). But it may still be worth it since all of the courses, including the Capstone (at TESU) can be tested out of.

I think a BSBA in General Management at TESU is about $5,000 if you're starting from scratch. So it would be cheaper for you. And, as a member of the military, your CLEP and DSST exams are free, making it even cheaper if you utilize those as much as possible.

I personally wouldn't waste my time getting an AA/AS but just go straight for the BSBA - since there are almost zero jobs out there in business asking for an AA/AS degree. They either want job experience, or a BA/BS. An AA/AS will get you nowhere except maybe a really, really entry-level job making minimum wage, which I don't think you are looking for.

You might also want to look at WGU for a competency-based business degree as well. They work with military too.

If you want to post your credits here, I can help you create a plan for TESU utilizing CLEP/DSST, and others can help with COSC or EC. Someone else may help with WGU, at least the stuff that's easy to test out of prior to enrolling (don't enroll at WGU if you're planning on testing out - you must test out first, and then enroll).

And, yes, Straighterline is a good option for courses, as is Study.com and a variety of other types of courses/exams.

[Madxhatter]

Thank you for your advice.

I have switched to a bachelors through my Ed Counselor. I am waiting in TESU to catch up. Once that is done I can do a credit evaluation and figure out what I need. I'm hoping straighter line and study.com will help me achieve my goal a lot faster. Once the evaluation is done I will attach it on here so I can get some advice. I do realize that right now I can at least complete my gen ed requirements and such and a lot of the business classes I don't have through them.

Now for the Gen Ed on straighterline do I really need to purchase the textbooks?

And as always more advice and help is always appreciated

[cookderosa]

My advice is to get the degree that will help you with your career in the long run. Doesn't make sense to get a degree after you've decided to leave a career.

Here's what hasn't sunk in yet - the average time to complete an entire 120 credit degree from scratch here is about a year. So, the difference of those lost credits or a different major may change the time investment you put in by +/- a month or two. Seriously, don't worry nearly as much about the time as about the "how" requirements.

(I like the suggestion about picking up the associates, it won't mess up your bachelor's, but it will add cost)

I'll be frank- the thing that kept me from pursuing a business degree is the horrendous math requirement. Before the waterfall of people saying it's not that bad, for *me* it was too much, and I mention it because you said it wasn't a subject you were good at. For some people, that means they can limp along through calc, but for me that meant restarting a 46 year old brain learning something I didn't even do in high school - I'm not going to be successful taking college algebra, statistics, and accounting - it's just not happening. If I had more time, yes, but I had other fish to fry. I took a nice and easy Math for Liberal Arts through TESU directly (8th grade math with a little extra bling) and checked the box.

What's the deal with Straighterline? SL (for short) has open book online quizzes that you can use their material to teach you or locate the answers. For most classes (not English) it's hunt-and-peck. You can do a class in a few days. The exam requirement is a joke because you can accumulate enough points on the quizzes to earn a zero on the exam and still pass. You have to actually take it, but you don't have to achieve a high grade. The SL classes are good, and you can absolutely take longer and learn all of the material, but if we're being honest here, you're paying by the month, so speed is expected.

Study.com isn't as easy of a math game - you have to actually pass the exams. Like SL, they are proctored using a webcam. (you won't be able to take exams on your phone)

Textbooks, especially since you are military, can be online books. Ctrl button + F opens a find box, allowing you to search for answers in the text. Paperback is heavier and doesn't allow such nifty searching. (we use both in our home because my teens are doing Straighterline classes for homeschool this semester, but otherwise I wouldn't bother)

[KayV]

If you post your credits, we could help you better.
If you can't finish ALEKS before December 31, another nonproctored math is from Shmoop.com. It is harder though.

[Madxhatter]

I expect I can get through (passing and that's it) with regards to the math course. The reason I decided business is the career field is quite larger and that is what I need. I have the leadership experience I have been doing it for over 10 years lol. I work a job now where I have nothing but time as my body is recovering from injuries so I have at least 8 hours a day just at work to devote to school not counting my time at home. How does ALEKS work?

[Madxhatter]

Credits will be forthcoming as soon as TESU does the academic evaluation and I figure out how to save it in a readable format to show y'all. I figure I could do SL to knock out most of my core I.e English and math requirements. Will be able to do a lot of my business stuff on their as well. I mean I'm ready to do what I have to do to get this piece of paper that says you can let me in the door and interview me lmao

[dfrecore]

You can still post your credits on here and we can usually figure a lot of it out without the eval. So feel free if you'd like to get a head start, TESU will take 25 business days, plus some holidays thrown in there, so it may be a while before they get back to you.

[dfrecore]

I'll be frank- the thing that kept me from pursuing a business degree is the horrendous math requirement. Before the waterfall of people saying it's not that bad, for *me* it was too much, and I mention it because you said it wasn't a subject you were good at. For some people, that means they can limp along through calc, but for me that meant restarting a 46 year old brain learning something I didn't even do in high school - I'm not going to be successful taking college algebra, statistics, and accounting - it's just not happening. If I had more time, yes, but I had other fish to fry. I took a nice and easy Math for Liberal Arts through TESU directly (8th grade math with a little extra bling) and checked the box.

Just a quick note cookderosa - I didn't think Financial or Managerial accounting classes were very math-y at all. Financial especially was addition and subtraction stuff. Really simple. Managerial (And the Finance course) got more complicated with some formulas for figuring out bonds and whatnot, but I still wouldn't say that you had to be particularly good at math to understand the concepts or pass the courses. Just an FYI - I'm still struggling through Stats! :-P