Hoping for some input, just starting down this yellow brick road...

[keithk]

I hate to start another "noob" thread , is there a central thread that I missed to ask for advice? Might help the "clutter" for you old timers that get tired of the guidance counselor questions

I keep skipping around the forum trying to take in all the info and I feel like I have ADD with all the questions I have and trying to match posts and answers to my questions!

I was originally happy to just use IC as help to study for my 30 CLEP credits allowed at a local community college, but after realizing what can be achieved by testing out of courses and by going to one of the big three after reading up on this forum, I'm trying to formulate my plan of attack.

My first problem is that I'm not quite sure exactly what job I want to aim to get (funny how many of us lose the ability to figure that out once we get past the age of 5...maybe I should have stuck with veterinarian!).

I've done IT work from 1996-2000 and Transportation Logistics from 2000 to present, but I'm burned out and looking at a career change and I'll need a degree to make the move. I'm married with two young children so self-paced studying is very attractive, especially since I've never been much of a fan of slow-paced class learning on top of the ridiculous tuition costs for college.

Some points:

• I am an ex-Navy Nuclear Machinist's Mate so I'll be able to get some help with credits from that (the exact amount I'm not clear on just yet, I believe I read some nuke's getting up to 80-90 credits while others received closer to 50 depending on the degree they chose to try for).

• I feel Finance/Economics/Accounting is where I should be, so I'm thinking of BSBA in Finance or Economics from TESC.

• I think I should aim for a CPA and/or MBA once I've completed my Bachelors.

Just a couple of questions:

1.) I'm going to submit my Navy transcripts to TESC shortly. Do I need to decide on a degree 1st? Meaning, does the $75 only pay for the evaluation of your credits towards one degree of your choosing in advance, or can I play around with it and choose different degrees and see how my Navy credits would fit into that plan?

2.) To those of you who used one of the big three as a shortcut to an MBA, any idea how important it is that I choose a "respected" college if I go that route pertaining to Finance/Accounting/Economics? I know that's down the road a bit, but I would like to plan ahead. I live near Michigan University but the MBA program there is a whopping $95,000. I have Eastern Michigan nearby as well and that would be closer to $15-20k, but I'm all for different routes if it's not a name game with MBA's.

Thanks for any help,
Keith



BTW, for anyone like me who is having problems trying to figure what you might excel in, I found this link to be helpful (available after free registration):

The Princeton Review Career Quiz

The test was very simple, but it nailed me down pretty good, or at least what I thought I'd be good at in the past. Some job listings that came up for me:

Careers from The Princeton Review Guide To
Your Career linked to "Yellow" interest:


# Accountant/Auditor
# Actuary
# Astronomer
# Bookkeeper
# Court Reporter
# Dental Lab Technician
# Economist
# Financial Aid Officer
# Financial Analyst
# Foreign Exchange Trader
# Health Care Administrator
# Office Manager
# Sommelier
# Surveyor
# Corporate Lawyer
# Business Valuator
# Financial Planner
# Internet/Intranet Technologies Manager
# Geneticist
# Hospital Administrator
# Quality Assurance Engineer
# Research Technician
# Small Business Owner
# Systems Administrator
# Systems Analyst
# Venture Capitalist/ Investor
# Auditor
# Consultant
# Food Service Manager

Each career can be clicked and it will take you to another page with lots of good info on that job.

[Yenisei]

If there is a strong chance you want to get a CPA license, be sure to check your state's licensing requirements while you are still in the degree planning stage. IMHO, given what you posted, you should get a BSBA in Accounting. If you later decide to go another route with an MBA, you can still do that. You will almost certainly need more than just the credits earned from a bachelor's degree to get licensed as a CPA, so bear that in mind.

[keithk]

If there is a strong chance you want to get a CPA license, be sure to check your state's licensing requirements while you are still in the degree planning stage. IMHO, given what you posted, you should get a BSBA in Accounting. If you later decide to go another route with an MBA, you can still do that. You will almost certainly need more than just the credits earned from a bachelor's degree to get licensed as a CPA, so bear that in mind.

Thank you for the response Yenisei. I think your recommendation of Accounting would be good, or even double major in Accounting and Finance as has been recommended to someone else on this forum that was starting at ground level with no work experience in the field. It was suggested that a double major might garner more attention on a resume too which would make sense and I'll need 150 credits anyway to apply as a CPA eventually after I get the necessary 2000 hrs of work experience.

I'm applying for TESC and will be sending in my Navy transcripts shortly for eval, so the process has begun. I'll be taking US History 1 next Monday (I've been studying pretty hard for the past couple of weeks and am now signed up to IC for 6 mos...love those flashcards and these forums!).

I'm looking into CPA qualifications in Michigan a little more. I found a thread on here where someone stated that they didn't believe that CLEP'ed credits would count toward the 150 credits needed, I'm still trying to get confirmation of that for my state though.

In the meantime, I would like to read more posts on CPA info from members of the forum, but the search function says "CPA" is too short. Would anyone happen to have any good threads they could link me to?

[NAP]

......
In the meantime, I would like to read more posts on CPA info from members of the forum, but the search function says "CPA" is too short. Would anyone happen to have any good threads they could link me to?

Welcome to the forum!

I had this same problem when searching for GRE information. If you choose "Google Site Search" in the box above the regular "Search Forums" box, it does allow for shorter searches like CPA.

[keithk]

Thanks for the tip NAP, worked like a charm

[dcan]

Yeah be sure to check your state CPA requirements for sure. Some folks have been burned or at least nearly burned because of state requirements not accepting a lot of CLEPs. You'd have to search the forums to find out more though, I'm no expert.

FYI TESC has an Associate Applied Science/Technology in nuclear engineering, tailor made for Navy folks like yourself.

Thomas Edison State College | ASAST in Nuclear Engineering Technology Credit Distribution

Note though the main page for the degree says "PreCal I and II" are required, no idea what that is but doesn't match the credit breakdown. But this could potentially be a quick and easy associate's degree for you on the way to your BS degree.

Thomas Edison State College | ASAST in Nuclear Engineering Technology

Be aware of course of TESC's fee's, esp the annual fee.

Also, if you aren't interested in a "top tier" MBA, Taft is currently running a promo for an MBA with all tuition coming in under $3,500 total.

Online Master of Business Administration (MBA) Programs

There's a few others out there similar, around the $4-7K range. I'm seriously considering getting an MBA after my BS and possible MS, just for my own selfish reasons. At that price, why not?

FYI the "other" site (DegreeInfo Distance Learning - online degree forum) specializes in finding out about online graduate and doctorate degrees.