In search of guidance, Bachelors for military

[FutureGrad]

I have no idea how this system works, but I have been doing research and all roads lead to this forum. I was wondering if I could find guidance or advice from those that are experts in this system, or have a thorough knowledge.

I'm 25,I have a GED, I have around 25 credits from a local community college, 2.0 gpa, and I haven't been to college in almost 10 years. I want to earn my Bachelor's degree from any college that the military will accept in order to join as an officer. I have the ability to dedicate up to 12 hours a day for school.

I'm not sure of TESU or some other online school, such as Brandman would be best for my situation. I'm not sure how all of the different online colleges work, it seems that there are dozens of different systems of credit accumulation.

I have a copy of my transcripts, but I have not applied anywhere yet. The degree itself doesn't matter much to me, but my credits are in micro and macro econ, as well as US and World History. I can post my classes, grades, and credits if that will help determine my path.

I don't know if "testing for credits," is the best option. Can online classes be taken at your own pace? For instance, sign up for 8 week accounting class, finish in 3 days?


Help.
:ack:

[dfrecore]

Post the info for what you've taken on here. Please, please don't just copy and past your transcripts. The way they put it is very choppy and hard to read through. First, list the school (or at least some info like Community College A, so we know they're LL courses). Include whether it's semester or quarter based. Then list the course number, full course name, number of credits earned, and grade if less than a C (important for some classes). Repeat with any additional schools you've gone to. It should look like this:

Community College A (semester)
ENG101 English Composition 3cr B
x
x
x

Community College B (quarter)
MAT101 College Algebra 4cr A
x

4-year College (semester)
Organizational Behavior 3cr B
x
x
x

We can help figure out what degree would fit your credits best.

[FutureGrad]

Reedley Community College (Madera campus, but considered Reedley. Part of State Center Community College District SCCCD)

Semester 1
PSY-2 GEN PSYCHOLOGY C 3CR
HIST-12 US SINCE 1887 C 3CR
ECON-1B MICROECONOMICS A 3CR
SOC-1A INTRO TO SOC D 3CR


Semester 2
HIST-11 US TO 1887 C 3CR
SOC-2 AMER MINORITY GR(?) D 3CR
PHIL-1 INRTO TO PHIL W
ECON-1A MACROECONOMICS C 3CR

2.0 GPA, 21 credits is what my transcript is showing. That is the only college I've had thus far.


I don't quite know how these online colleges work, but what I imagined was a lesson, quiz, lesson, quiz, lesson, test type set up. Take one or 2 classes at once, at your own pace, and graduate faster if you work more.

I am 25 years old, turning 26 in November. The Marine Corps max age is 29, but I would like to finish much, much sooner than that. The schools that I've heard about are Western Governors University, Thomas Edison, Brandman, etc. My main concern, above all else, is time. I don't really care what degree I get, per se, but the faster the better.

:patriot:

[OakLakeNC]

Those Ds won't transfer most places. (like 90% sure they won't transfer anywhere but definitely ask) Remember GPA matters! Becoming an officer can be competitive. Only 'As' from here on out. As far as time goes, testing using CLEP, DSST, UExcel, TECEP tests, etc..is your best bet. As well as Straightliner, Smoop, ALEKS, Study.com and Tor college credits. BUT you need a higher GPA, 2.0 won't make any branch's minimum. I think some of the tests only transfer as 'P' at Excelsior. Might be the same other places. If you go to Excelsior, UExcel exams convert to a letter grade. Tor College Credits are self-paced and transfer letter grades. I imagine Thomas Edison tests also convert to a letter grade. I guess basically do your research, both with the colleges and the military. With 12 hours per day, you could be knocking lower level credits out left and right. With the right motivation, I could see you being done in four months.

[KayV]

The D grades will transfer to both TESU and COSC as general ed courses. OP, the BSBA in General Management is probably your fastest option. I suspect Dfrecore will share a spreadsheet with you, but in the meantime you should look at the Beginner's Guide sticky thread to get more information about how this works.

[dfrecore]

Yes, those grades will transfer to TESU for sure - they only don't accept C-'s or below in English Comp I & II, and your Core/AOS. But you can bring them into Ged Ed's and Free Electives.

If I were you, I would look into TESU for ease/speed/cost, but also take some courses elsewhere (less expensive ones) to get your GPA up. I would probably pick a school where you can go through much more quickly than a semester-based school, because it takes forever to get through those, and time is not on your side.

I would normally suggest WGU, if you can dedicate a lot of time to a program. But they won't take credits after you start, so you can't take outside courses for grades AND go through the WGU process simultaneously.

You could look at Brandman MyPath Competency-based, I don't think anyone on here has done it from what I've seen. But they are an RA school which is important. And they have an agreement with Saylor that might lower your cost even more: Brandman University | Saylor Academy

I don't think most online courses are at your own pace; there are online course providers like SL that are, but if you're taking a course through a university for a grade, most aren't. You could take some correspondence courses though; UofArkansas Self-Paced ($480/course), CSU-Pueblo IS ($495/course), UofIdaho IS ($510/course), BYU IS ($534/course), and LSU DL ($728/course) are all RA schools, will give grades, and are self-paced.

You could also see if your local CC has shorter terms for some classes you'd need (mine has 8-week half-terms for a few courses each semester).

[KayV]

I took classes at Chapman before they became Brandman. Worst customer service ever.

[KayV]

Also, I'm looking at UArk SPOCC policies, and they enroll "up to 20 times per year" and have a minimum timeframe of 3 weeks per course. Other colleges have similar timeframes due to accreditation policies.

Since you don't mention wanting to do graduate school, and you have a 2.0 GPA, you technically could graduate from TESU as long as you fulfill all the other requirements with Pass/ Credit grades and take the TECEP Strategic Management exam as your Capstone. However, having a higher GPA would help if you ever wanted to go to grad school.

On the forum, a perennial favorite TESU class is SOS-110 Living in the Information Age. A bit spendy, but it gives you a good GPA from TESU.

[dfrecore]

Also, I'm looking at UArk SPOCC policies, and they enroll "up to 20 times per year" and have a minimum timeframe of 3 weeks per course. Other colleges have similar timeframes due to accreditation policies.

Since you don't mention wanting to do graduate school, and you have a 2.0 GPA, you technically could graduate from TESU as long as you fulfill all the other requirements with Pass/ Credit grades and take the TECEP Strategic Management exam as your Capstone. However, having a higher GPA would help if you ever wanted to go to grad school.

On the forum, a perennial favorite TESU class is SOS-110 Living in the Information Age. A bit spendy, but it gives you a good GPA from TESU.

The OP wants to get into the military as an officer, and other commenters on here said that that wouldn't be a high enough GPA to do so. So that's what he/she needs the higher GPA for. I wouldn't spend the money on TESU courses to just have a high GPA there - you need a higher cumulative GPA, so that should be done as inexpensively as possible.

You're going to need to figure out how many courses to take to raise your GPA to the right place (whatever that is). If it was 3.0, then you would need another 25cr of all A's to get there. If it's 2.5, then you'll need 9cr of A's. Raise Your GPA

I would figure out where and what to take to work it into whichever degree plan you want, and then start working on that immediately. I would then figure out the rest via inexpensive options from this forum (SL, Study.com, Saylor, TEEX, ALEKS, etc.).

[KayV]

Thanks, Dfrecore. I have no idea how I missed that.