Help with degree planning

[nuit001]

First and foremost, I would like to apologize for any inconsistencies or misunderstandings, I'm new to this forum, and new to all this in general. Please be patient with me, thank you.

I will finally earn my high school diploma in December through an online self-paced accredited school and plan to began college. I am hoping to pursue a career in mechanical engineering, though I am not 100%, but that's the plan for now. One of my questions is: what do you guys recommend I do in order to get as many general education courses out of the way? My initial plan was to just go to my CC (ARC) and my A.S. and then from there transfer to my local UC (CSUS) to get my B.S.

The main reason I'm on here is I don't wish to take GE courses at CC that'll take too long to finish. I want help getting advice on what's the best choice to make. I want to enroll in ARC and have as little courses left as possible to graduate with my A.S., is that the right way to go on about things? Any advice would honestly be greatly appreciated, as I don't have anyone to help me navigate through this. 

I've looked into UOTP, CLEP through ModernStates, Saylor, etc. but just don't know where I would need to eventually start and if I'm even doing the right thing.

I have other questions to ask, but for now that is all. Any comments/advice would be appreciated.

Thank you!


Your Location: Northern California, USA

Your Age: 21

What kind of degree do you want?: Mechanical Engineering A.S. and eventually a B.S.

Current Regional Accredited Credits: None.

Current ACE, CLEP, or NCCRS Credits: None.

Any certifications or military experience?: Manufacturing Certificate, no military experience.

Budget: As low as possible.

Commitments: Sickly mother, personal caregiver.

Dedicated time to study: M-F, 5-6 daily.

Timeline: Flexible, but the sooner, the better.

Tuition assistance/reimbursement: Possibly FASFA, if not, then none. 

[ltw900rr]

My son is doing Mechanical Engineering at a state university, after this semester, he has 3 semesters left before he will finish.

What we did to save money was for him to take everything he could at the local community college that would transfer to the state university, then move on to the state university to finish up.

He did not focus on obtaining the Associate's degree from the community college. That was not his goal, he would have taken several classes that would not transfer to the University, and would have wasted time and money.

https://catalog.csus.edu/colleges/engine...gineering/

From what I read in your post, this is the degree you are going for?

go look at this link https://www.csus.edu/apply/admissions/ap...ocess.html
this will show you what classes will transfer from ARC to Sacramento State

If you can focus on taking only those classes that will transfer from your CC to the University, you can save some money before transferring to the University.

You can also schedule a time to talk to an Advisor from Sacramento State and explain to them that you want to take everything you can from ARC your local community college before transferring to the University. They can help you create a plan and understand what all you need to do before transferring to the University. You should be able to take 2 years of core classes and a majority of the math courses at your CC before transferring.

My son said he stopped asking other Mech E students how long they had been in school, or if they were a sophomore, junior etc, and just started asking them what math they were currently enrolled in. Engineering is very math focused, getting through Calculus 1,2,3 and Diff EQ before starting classes at the University will put you way ahead of the students at the University who are still struggling to pass those classes.

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https://catalog.csus.edu/academic-policies/

This page shows the policy at the University for CLEP

I did not see a way to look at transfer credits from out of state UOTP for example.

I would talk to an advisor at the University and ask these questions also.

If you can find a hack for some of the core classes, go for it. But I would not try to take any shortcuts on the math side of it. You definitely want to take those at your community college or at the University.

[bjcheung77]

My recommendation is... Max your CLEP with ARC and CSUS if you're going that route, keep accumulating CLEP credits that can go towards both institutions. If you decide to skip the Associates, you can go directly to CSUS. I would suggest getting as many CLEP as they allow for transfer to speed up the process. If you decide on a different route, you can always look at accumulating ACE credits with Sophia.org and deciding on Excelsior, TESU, UMPI, etc...