I need a real plan. Help me brainstorm/research?

[rickyjo]

It's been about 2 1/2 years by my count and I still don't have a real plan. I am extremely open to degree options. Honestly, and two year degree that is accredited NA or RA will be fine. I'd prefer RA and technical but I need to wrap this up before I burn out and/or run out of money.

SO far I've done:
63 FEMA courses complete 1/2/10
4 NFA courses Complete 1/5/10
A+ (Computer Repair)
N+ (Networking)
MCP XP PRO (Microsoft Certified Profesional)
(Most schools seem to take IT certs for one credit each)
AP Literature
ALEKS Beginning Algebra
ALEKS Intermediate Algebra
ALEKS College Algebra
ALEKS TRIG.
Straighterline Macro Econ
....
In the works:
ALEKS Pre-Calc (ETA: (ETA: 2-3 weeks)
Straighterline Micro Econ (ETA: Two weeks)

Although not started I intend to do these as well:
CLEP Computer apps
Straighterline Accounting I
ALEKS Stats (not sure which, need input on this too. Easy is good!)

Am I close to anything? Which of the three would take the most of this and actually apply it to something? A transfer degree or technical degree is ideal, but I'll take anything!

Please, throw out any ideas that come to mind. I'm not married to any particulars at this time. My only qualifications are cheap and takes a lot of the above credit.

[Lindagerr]

I would think with your FEMA credits you might qualify for something like this or be close. TESC ASPSS in Emergency Disaster Services Credit Distribution

or you could see how this would fit

BSHS in Emergency Disaster Services Credit Distribution
Related LinksApplyHeavin School of Arts and Sciences What You Can StudyUndergraduate ProgramsGraduate ProgramsLearner Designed Area of Study (LDAS)

Subject Category Credits
I. General Education Requirements 48
A. English Composition 6
B. Humanities 9
C. Social Sciences 15
■Introduction to Sociology
(3)
■Introduction to Psychology
(3)
■Economics, Political Science, History or Geography
(3)
■Other social sciences
(6)
D. Natural Sciences and Mathematics 9
■One college-level mathematics required
(3)
■Other natural sciences or mathematics
(6)
E. General Education Electives 9
■Intercultural Communications or Race and Ethnic Relations
(3)
■Other credits from any general education subject
(6)
II. Concentration in Human Services 54
A. Core Requirements 21
■Dynamics of social setting (upper-level subjects in sociology, urban politics, social history, etc.)
(3)
■Dynamics of the individual (upper-level subjects in psychology)
(6)
■Dynamics of intervention (covers such areas as counseling, interviewing and social work methods)
(3)
■Social Planning (covers such areas as social policy, planning and administration)
(3)
■Statistics or research methodology
(3)
■Computer science or data processing
(3)
B. Individual Areas of Study: Emergency Disaster Services 33
■Overview of Human Services or the Specialization
■Introduction to Human Services
■Introduction to Social Work
■Introduction to Social Welfare
■Introduction to Emergency Management
■Introduction to Social Services
■Basic Skills Emergency Program Managers
■Social Welfare/Social Work
■Social Welfare: Programs, Practice
(3)
■Basic Philosophy, Theory and Concepts
■Civil Defense Syst./Prog./Pol.
■Fire Related Human Behavior
■Devel. Fire & Life Safety Strat.
■Incident Command System
■Earth Sciences for Emergency Managers
■Manmade Hazards
■Emergency Planning Course
■Natural Hazards Mitigation & Recovery
■Exec. Devel. for Emergency Program Managers
■Principles of Hazardous Materials Management
■Fire Command Operations
■Public Administration
■Fire Protection Management
■State Rad. Defense Officer Workshop
(12)
■Applied Areas
■Hazardous Materials Tactical Consideration
■Community Fire Protection: Planning
■Health Effects Ionizing Radiation
■Crisis Communication
■Occupational Health & Safety
■Emergency Medical Service & Administration
■Radiological Accident Assessment
■Emergency Operations
■Radiological Emergency Preparedness Plan
■Emergency Planning & Methodology
■Radiological Emergency Response & Operations
■Emergency Prep. Laws & Regulations
■Radiological Monitors Instructor
■Exercise Design
■Radiological Safety
■Hazardous Materials Contingency Planning
■Train the Trainer Courses
(12)
■Advanced Level Practicum
(6)
III. Free Electives 18
Total 120

Note: Course approvals will be individualized to reflect the approved practicum setting and job responsibilities. This list of courses is offered as a guide. Other courses may be considered appropriate for the specialization.


I'm sure one of the others are better at this.

[rickyjo]

Good post! Thank you!

Here's a more specific question:
Are any of the NFA or FEMA courses considered "humanities" by any of the schools? If so which courses. I suspect this is pivotal. I have math, English, and social studies taken care of, the only core item remaining is humanities.

[NAP]

Don't forget about the 6 credit CLEPs. Choosing just 5 and getting 30 General Education credits for about $360 is a great deal!

[rickyjo]

I'm excited to take a computer apps test, I think that will be easy for me; however, I'm still quite un-confident about any other CLEPs due to the amount of time I've been out of school. Perhaps passing the computer one will help boost my confidence, but, when I get my IT certs I really hated it and it took a very long time. I think that perhaps testing out is not something I would be great at.

[Lindagerr]

When I took my first TECEP 4 years ago I had been out of High School more then 30 years!! I was so surprised at how well I did and it only got easier as I did test after test. If you read my I'm done thread you will see how many times I dropped out of school and how afraid I was of CLEP. It was almost 20 years from my last college course to my first TECEP. If I can overcome that so can you.

No TESC nor any other school that I know of will take FEMA as humanities. Below are what I got humanities credit for, humanities was not my strong point and that exam did scare me. I'm sure you can find another exam to replace that one class I took.

B: Humanities (Completed)
> Complete 12 semester hours of Humanities, including at
> least two subject areas.
Semester Hours Completed: 12.00
Src Course # Title S.H. Grd TESC # Notes
2.. LIT-221... Children's Literature.... 3.00 A-
2.. LIT-292... Analysis and Inter of Lit 3.00 CR LIT-292 *NE
2.. LIT-291... Analysis & Interpre Liter 3.00 CR LIT-291 *NE
2.. REL-405... Intro. to World Religions 3.00 CR REL-405 *NE

You need to stop putting this off and GET IT DONE!!

[MISin08]

You're obviously bright, you got the system to sell you a house, if I can do it with my negative net worth and Satanic job you can. excelsior.business.general or excelsior.business.mis and you won't have anything to answer for. Or excelsior.liberal_studies.economics since you like math and as Forbes.com says "economics is the most lucrative of the easy majors". At 45 you will wish you had just got on with it. Really.

Since you said "throw out any ideas"
Phillip

[IgnazSemmelweis]

I'm excited to take a computer apps test, I think that will be easy for me; however, I'm still quite un-confident about any other CLEPs due to the amount of time I've been out of school. Perhaps passing the computer one will help boost my confidence, but, when I get my IT certs I really hated it and it took a very long time. I think that perhaps testing out is not something I would be great at.

I am A+/Network+/Security+/MCSE certified. You can take the Intro to Computing DSST cold and pass. It's 80% A+/Network+ stuff. If you know anything about programming and/or databases, that will help as well. If not, a brief skim at the 30K foot view will be all you need. I finished that test in 17 minutes.

I didn't take the Info Sys CLEP, but I imagine it can't be harder than the MIS DSST which I took and destroyed. You'd actually need to do some studying about databases and MIS itself, but knowing A+/Network+ stuff will get you a lot of gimme questions.

[rickyjo]

Hold on just a minute (Lindagerr)! Literature classes are considered humanities as well as English? Because if that is the case I could CLEP an English course and implement my AP Literature towards humanities. Also, are you (MISin08) saying that business is a humanity? I love business! I would actually ENJOY taking a class or two like that in my local community college and could even benefit from it.

IgnazSemmelweis: That's encouraging. I really think I can pass it cold. I got my hands on the practice questions from collegeboard and got a 76% on it without study. I'm not sure how that translates to the CLEP, but if it's anything like AP that's a strong pass. My problem was that I know very, very little about programming.

Oh, and on a side note, I hate math, I loathe and despise it passionately. The reason I have so much of it is simply because it's so cheap to use ALEKS and I figured I had to take advantage of it.

As for an economics major, I have no idea what one does with it aside from policy/teaching. I do find the topic fascinating.