I'm new and could use some advice and help.

[Attie]

I can't speak about free-lance writing or museum jobs but as for teachers, it depends upon what your state requires. In Virginia you only need a bachelor's with any major from an RA school (which all the Big 3 and AMU/APU are), have to complete the Career Switcher Program and must pass the VCLA and subject Praxis II exams. Check with your state's education department about their requirements and see if they have anything like we do in Virginia. I hear that Texas is even easier to get licensed but I don't know for sure.

As for getting a degree with a history major from one of the Big 3, yes it would be much easier IMO to do. Here's a sample degree plan I put together for TESC: TESC BA in History Degree Plan Template - Degree Forum Wiki

This can be modified for COSC or EC.

I just checked, and it seems easy enough to get qualified in my state. There are a few different options depending on what exactly you want to teach, but the college I got my AA from actually has a 'fast track to teaching program' for people with a bachelor's degree in any subject from an RA school, and it consists of 8 classes. So that's very good to know, even though I have no desire to teach!

Thank you for the sample degree plan too!

[Attie]

Remember that the degree will simply read "Bachelor of Science" or "Bachelor of Arts" it's gonna be up to you to spin that on your resume and in interviews. I like that my degree has two concentrations....I can emphasize either concentration. Others will disagree with this...end of the day you need to be comfortable selling yourself and your education to potential employers.

Concentrating in history might be a little cheaper/easier, but only marginally so. I think you could save $1000-1500 just because of the availability of credit by exam and the lower cost of LSU/University of Idaho courses against the cost of BYU.

Okay. I feel a little more comfortable with the idea of a dual concentration now. It actually sounds like something that would work fine for my career as well as be something that I would enjoy. Thank you. I'm not set in stone yet, but I think I am going to try to write up a complete degree plan for myself and go over it. Does the COSC website have any information on dual concentrations that you could point me to? I have tried looking but didn't see anything.

[rebel100]

Charter Oak State College - Liberal Studies

[rebel100]

Know that the cornerstone course is designed to help you fully develop and plot your degree plan....that and write it all up in a cohesive plan of attack.

dual concentrations are not the norm at COSC...but they readilly accepted mine and I have directed several folks that have successfully completed a dual concentration CPS (concentration plan of study). Your plan to blend history/english/writing is sort of a no brainer....it won't be hard to develop nor defend....you would be on solid ground.

[Jonathan Whatley]

History (12 needed at UL)....this can be done as low as $400 or so:
(3) DSST Civil War
(3) DSST Rise and Fall of the Soviet Union
(3) ECE Cultural Diversity
(3) ECE World Conflicts since 1900
......or sub classes from the usual suspects: LSU/UofI/BYU

Two things about the ECE Cultural Diversity: It's currently one of the more expensive ECEs, $305, for a 3 hr test. And it might not be taken as history credit specifically. Excelsior codes it under sociology, SOCX-305.

[rebel100]

Two things about the ECE Cultural Diversity: It's currently one of the more expensive ECEs, $305, for a 3 hr test. And it might not be taken as history credit specifically. Excelsior codes it under sociology, SOCX-305.

Good catch on the price...I forget that not all of the EC's are $100. It's on COSC's Master List as Social Scince/History...so Im confident it would work in the plan....though at the price I would probably pick something else.

[IrishJohn]

Good catch on the price...I forget that not all of the EC's are $100. It's on COSC's Master List as Social Scince/History...so Im confident it would work in the plan....though at the price I would probably pick something else.

Just out of curiosity, what about Saylor's POLSC201? Max cost is $50 for proctoring fee. Will COSC accept this course as completing one of the requirements? If so, do they transfer this at the 100/200 level or higher?

[burresjm]

Really? Did you have to fill out the waiver (mentioned earlier by HorseManiac) for each class that you chose to use the library? Is there a way to find out if proctoring will be required or not before signing up for each individual class? What about the Capstone?

Do you think TESC would be a better option in my case?

Sorry for all the questions! It's just nice to hear from someone who completed a BA in English!

Yes, I did have to fill out a waiver at the beginning of each term for each class, but it was a really simple form. I think if you look at TESC's website and look at the classes you are thinking about taking it tells whether or not you have to have a proctor. The capstone was a bit daunting. It was a paper consisting of 25 pages (but that includes cover page, abstract page, table of contents, body, and references so that cuts down a lot). The other thing with the capstone is that it is actually broke up into chapters were you write one chapter every two weeks, so by the end all you have to do is compile all of the chapters into one document, review, edit, and submit it. It was much easier than I expected.

I can't say if it is the better option as I never looked into other colleges, I transferred from a community college to TESC, it was the easiest option. I read that you want to be a freelance writer- that is my end goal, though I plan on teaching for a while just to get started. I don't mind questions, I wish I had been able to have someone to ask before I began!

[ryoder]

I would just pick a TESC degree plan and work on it on your own by doing CLEP/DSST/ACE credits. You can probably work this way for a year without interacting with TESC at all. Then when you get all of your credits go and sign up for an evaluation. Don't start paying for expensive college classes just yet. You can complete 95% of a bachelors degree through testing out alone.

[rebel100]

I would just pick a TESC degree plan and work on it on your own by doing CLEP/DSST/ACE credits. You can probably work this way for a year without interacting with TESC at all. Then when you get all of your credits go and sign up for an evaluation. Don't start paying for expensive college classes just yet. You can complete 95% of a bachelors degree through testing out alone.

I agree with this....though still think Charter Oak is the better choice. But there is plenty you can be working on before starting at COSC.

I don't believe TESC has any better options in English...though they do offer a couple of the history exams at the UL that COSC only credits as LL.