I Have 124 Credits - Need Help Figuring out the Most Efficient Path for a Degree

[jacobvanhelden]

What are the "NASM credits" from? A quick google shows only results similar to https://www.nasm.org/ and that doesn't have much to do with Music.

Great question! To answer that, I really don't know.  I was forwarding this link by the school.  I guess it is the National Association of Schools of Music. I should have mentioned (and will update the post to reflect this), that the school I had attended is located in Southern California and it is a nationally accredited school as of two years ago I believe.

What is the name of the school name you earned the credits? NASM (National Association of Schools of Music) is a secondary level accreditation for music programs. It does not define if the credits are NA or RA. Actually, many of the schools that offer NASM programs are RA colleges and universities. It would also be helpful to have the course #s as well, since they will give us some insight on them being LL or UL.  You're here looking for assistance and guidance, but without knowing the the school everyone is just guessing.

Oh, that is great to hear.  The school name is ICON Collective (I've gone ahead and included it in the post as well).  On their website, it says that they are nationally accredited, but nothing about regional accreditation. 

The course numbers in order, and are speparated by quarter: 

Q1:
ABT1100, EAR1110, GTH1110, KTL1110, MNT1110, MTH1110, STT1110, SYN1110 

Q2:
EAR1220, GTH1220, HST1200, KTL1220, MNT1220, MTH1220, PSP1200, STT1220, SYN1220 

Q3:
ART1310, CLB1310, EAR1330, GTH1330, KTL1330, MNT1330, MTH1330, SNG1310, STT1330, WRL1410 

Q4:
BIZ1410, CLB1420, MNT1440, MTH1440, SNG1420, STT1440, KTL1440 

[Jonathan Whatley]

ICON Collective is NA NASM only, not RA, unfortunately. The NASM has two functions: programmatic accreditor for music programs at colleges and universities most of which are RA, and institutional accreditor of freestanding schools of music which are not otherwise RA. The latter set includes ICON Collective and Musicians Institute. (But some freestanding schools of music, like Berklee College of Music, are both RA and NASM.)

[bjcheung77]

Hmm... Max ability to salvage credits is something you're going for or trying to do, yet you want to get the degree done ASAP, cheap, easy, fast, with better ROI/Value... Excelsior BSLA, UMPI BAS/BLS has about 60 credits for any elective course you want, TESU BALS only has 30 credits for electives. With so many NA credits from ICON, you can transfer those to Excelsior, having said that UMPI might take the courses on a case-by-case basis, I would chose them over TESU at the time being. Again, Excelsior, you will need 7 residency credits, the rest can be transferred in... UMPI, you need 30 credits residency, you can get 90 transferred into the degree.

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However, your last sentence after the addendum has me thinking, you're looking at Business, CS, IT, or the Liberal Arts/Science as a last option... You can work on the trifecta (certs, degree, experience).  If you don't have an associates already, I would work on the Pierpont BOG AAS starting with the Freebie Coursera/TADA ACE options, you need to sign up ASAP as it ends OCT 1. 

You can sign up for Coursera/TADA (and skip the $25 ASU 1 credit course as you have RA) take all the Coursera/TADA ACE options you want to get credit for, complete Sophia.org credits towards the Pierpont BOG AAS, take extra courses that are required/transferable to Excelsior/UMPI.   Here's an example thread you should follow, my answers/steps are within the thread: https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...ABA-or-BAS

[allvia]

You can sign up for Coursera/TADA (and skip the $25 ASU 1 credit course as you have RA)

The OP has not reported any RA credits in this thread.

[rachel83az]

You can "salvage" credits or you can get a degree quickly & cheaply. Which one do you want?

[bjcheung77]

You can "salvage" credits or you can get a degree quickly & cheaply. Which one do you want?

Yeah, that really depends on each individual... if Excelsior and UMPI both take them, then go for it, if not then use Sophia.org for those electives.

You can sign up for Coursera/TADA (and skip the $25 ASU 1 credit course as you have RA)

The OP has not reported any RA credits in this thread.

Oh yeah, then change the word skip, to take...as you don't have RA...

[jacobvanhelden]

Hmm... Max ability to salvage credits is something you're going for or trying to do, yet you want to get the degree done ASAP, cheap, easy, fast, with better ROI/Value... Excelsior BSLA, UMPI BAS/BLS has about 60 credits for any elective course you want, TESU BALS only has 30 credits for electives.  With so many NA credits from ICON, you can transfer those to Excelsior, having said that UMPI might take the courses on a case-by-case basis, I would chose them over TESU at the time being.  Again, Excelsior, you will need 7 residency credits, the rest can be transferred in... UMPI, you need 30 credits residency, you can get 90 transferred into the degree.

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However, your last sentence after the addendum has me thinking, you're looking at Business, CS, IT, or the Liberal Arts/Science as a last option... You can work on the trifecta (certs, degree, experience).  If you don't have an associates already, I would work on the Pierpont BOG AAS starting with the Freebie Coursera/TADA ACE options, you need to sign up ASAP as it ends OCT 1. 

You can sign up for Coursera/TADA (and skip the $25 ASU 1 credit course as you have RA) take all the Coursera/TADA ACE options you want to get credit for, complete Sophia.org credits towards the Pierpont BOG AAS, take extra courses that are required/transferable to Excelsior/UMPI.   Here's an example thread you should follow, my answers/steps are within the thread: https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...ABA-or-BAS

Wow, thank you so much for all of this.  Sounds like Excelsior or UMPI is the way to go then.  I am assuming Excelsior would be cheaper and quicker than UMPI, assuming that I could transfer a fair bit more credits over? Also, I am assuming that I will need to apply to both schools in order to figure out which credits will transfer (especially for UMPI)? 

Could you explain what you mean regarding the trifecta?  Do you mean focusing on certs and expereince to put towards a degree, or is the trifecta a certain degree / degree path?  I did a bit of digging but still dont think I am understanding it correctly.  

Additionally, why would it be more beneficial to start with the associates degree as opposed to going straight for the bachelors?

I will get signed up for the Coursera / TADA course today.  Thank you again for all of your help!

EDIT: Shoot, I just tried signing up and it looks like the TADA learning program is full. I dont suppose there is any way around this?

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You can "salvage" credits or you can get a degree quickly & cheaply. Which one do you want?

I would prefer getting the degree quickly and cheaply.  I suppose I was under the impression that salvaging as many credits as possible would lead to the degree being quicker and cheaper.  Am I incorrect in thinking so?

[rachel83az]

Unless Excelsior accepts all of your music credits (or at least most of them) and you've already got at least 30 UL credits, Excelsior is probably going to be slower - after transfer - than UMPI would be even if you were starting 100% from scratch. Even if Excelsior accepts all/most of your credits, they'll still possibly be slower than UMPI. UMPI is just going to be faster and easier for most students. Cheaper, too.

[jacobvanhelden]

Unless Excelsior accepts all of your music credits (or at least most of them) and you've already got at least 30 UL credits, Excelsior is probably going to be slower - after transfer - than UMPI would be even if you were starting 100% from scratch. Even if Excelsior accepts all/most of your credits, they'll still possibly be slower than UMPI. UMPI is just going to be faster and easier for most students. Cheaper, too.

Good to know.  I will explore that then.  

Additionally, I am a CA resident, so have access to the free Coursera. Would you reccomend using the Wiki to knock out courses that are accepted at UMPI?  It looks like Excelsior does not accept any of the Coursera courses for credit, did I read that correctly?

[rachel83az]

It's not that Excelsior doesn't accept any of the Coursera credits. They probably accept most/all of the ACE-recommended credits. But we haven't had any Excelsior students report back after having taken any, so we don't have any equivalencies on the wiki.