Looking for advice about finishing my degree

[needdegree123]

Hello, I've browsed a few different forums as well as the websites of the specific "big 3" schools and I'm really just trying to get a clearer picture of what my options are at this point, and this forum seems like it has a lot of knowledgeable people who can point me in the right direction.

My situation:

I went to school for about 6 years, I have probably over 140 credits but am obviously lacking that key part of it all, the degree. I bounced around looking for a major and completing general studies for about 2 1/2 years, then I decided on Industrial Design (product design) as my major. The one issue was the program required you to have a 3.0 to progress to senior level courses needed to complete the degree, this review was added when I had just joined the program, I didn't meet the threshold and took another year of courses before I decided to take a break and collect myself. I ended up moving around a bit after that and as such live nowhere near my former school (and they don't really have any non in person options to complete your degree that I know of). Now I'm 30 and looking for a new job here in Seattle and realize the degree is a big key to leveling up my career, even though I've got a ton of skills and knowledge already. I've spent the last 3 1/2 years working in marketing/web design and I'd say I'm pretty good at that so any sort of "work proof" type of things could be theoretically done with that in mind.


My primary goal is getting a degree done ASAP, it doesn't matter what it is as long as it's accredited, money isn't really an issue, as long as it leads to a degree.


1. Industrial Design is well outside the realm any of the big 3 schools programs are in, am I screwed with regard to those credits? As in, are those just all a loss and counted as elective credits or is there value to them. I'd say I've probably got 50-60 credits in 3-400 level classes.

2. Which school of the big 3 if any best meets my goal of being fast and willing to take a bunch of credits focused on one thing and translating them into some type of degree?

3. Are there alternative options for me I'm not seeing? I'm certainly willing to put work in, but I also don't want to spend another 2 years messing around with classes and what not to get a degree.

4. If anyone was or is in a similar situation with a more specialized degree path, I'd love to hear what you did/are doing to complete your degree.

Thanks in advance for any help you can give.

[kevinmane]

1. I don't think all of your industrial design credits would be thrown into the "elective" area. I think some of them, as they are somewhat of a humanities/art-related field of study, could be used as Liberal Arts credits. I've seen some credits in business communication be transcribed as COM-300 which is a social science subject and at the 300 level be put into the major degree area for a Liberal Arts Degree at TESU.

2. I would recommend getting a Bachelor's Degree in Liberal Arts at Thomas Edison State University. They're the most generous for credit acceptance and allow more options for testing out of courses. Plus they require the least amount of upper level credits (300/400) for their degrees.

3. This is the best option. For any credits that you need, you can take a CLEP or DSST to test out of the course. Use InstantCert flashcards and review the forum for specific exam-related material. If you're not the best test-taker, you can also take a few Straighterline courses to get yourself those credits. Even if TESU doesn't put any of credits in the upper level Liberal Arts area, you can still accomplish getting those credits in less than 6 months - I've done it and many other people on this forum have done it. Some have even started with ZERO credits and finished within 1 year just by doing tests and Straighterline courses. The fact that you have a lot of credits means you will definitely be within only a few months of getting yours.

4. As much as it would be cool to get a degree in what you originally attempted to get, at this point, getting a Liberal Arts degree is probably your best bet. However, I have heard of a couple people hitting up their Original College and seeing if they can restart their degree using the credits they've earned in the past and try to finish through them. You also may be able to talk to TESU about getting your degree in Industrial Design through their Learner Designed Area of Study Program: Learner Designed Area of Study. Basically, you can show them all the work you've done towards the degree and they can take that into consideration and let you know if you can complete a few other courses in other areas so that they can grant you a degree in the subject you originally chose. It's kind of a long shot and a bit of a process, but it may be worth it to try.

[SweetSecret]

Welcome to DegreeForum! It looks like you live in my "neck of the woods"... within an hour and a half drive anyway.

Generally the best advice is to apply to all 3 schools (if you can afford to) and see which one gives you the most credits. I'm at TESU now for Liberal Studies (I also do marketing and web design along with nonprofit consulting all from home), and I've been pretty happy with that decision overall. If you want specific help you should probably post your list of courses and credits.

As far as industrial design, you could go one of a few ways if you choose TESU. They have a Learner Designed Area of Study (LDAS) program that you can design your own degree if it's very specific, or you can do the Liberal Studies plan which is what they'll put you into if you plan blends their other current plans, you could also choose to go with a more specific degree focus like business. If you go with the LDAS or LS then the industrial design credits you have would fit into your emphasi(s ) within the "area of study" section of the degree plan.

[dfrecore]

I also would recommend applying to all 3 schools - with as many credits as you have, you really need to see what each school would do for you.

The fastest/easiest way to get a degree that I know of is the BSBA in General Management - but that's really only if someone doesn't have a ton of credits and wants to get courses quickly, and not have to deal with a capstone (the BSBA is the only degree where you can test out of the capstone). For someone with a lot of credits already, it's better to see what the different schools get you.

I'm not sure what EC and COSC have in terms of this, but at TESU, once you apply and can log in and see your eval, you can also do different scenarios to see where they apply the courses to different degrees than you originally applied for. So, if you applied for the BALS, you could then say "what if I were to switch to the BSBA?" and it would show you where you were at. A great resource.

I know nothing about the LDAS, but it was the first thing I thought of when you said Industrial Design. I would look into that as well.

And, if you would like to post your current credits on here, we can help tell you what the different schools would do for you before you even apply. Put the course name, where you took it (or at least whether it was at a 4-yr college or CC, how many credits it was (and whether that's semesters or quarters), and whether the course is UL or not at the 4-yr school. Not sure if we can figure it all out for you, but it's worth a shot.

[KayV]

If you already have that many credits, you might try a BGS in Arts and Science from Athabasca University, Canada's version of The Big 3, except they only take traditionally earned credits. They do not place a cap on community credits, do not require a Capstone, take D grades for everything but English Comp, and require 90 credits to graduate. They even have US regional accreditation. It would cost about $100 USD to apply and about $900 USD to graduate, inclusive.

Athabasca is a Canadian university, but it also has US regional accreditation (the highest level).

Athabasca University : Canada's Leader in Online & Distance Education
General Studies : Faculty of Humanities & Social Sciences : Athabasca University

[needdegree123]

Thanks for the replies everyone, I've been busy the last few weeks, but finally got around to taking a look at some of these.

For the person who asked about my course load I took, I've listed it out below. Looking at all of this, I think my greatest potential issue is the fact that these are very specialized and only really apply to design, but it sounds like some of the programs are a little more lenient in terms of "transforming" credits to meet a certain goal.

Looking at Athabasca, that looks like a potential top choice for me. It looks like they would take a lot of my credits. It would almost seem I would just transfer my credits in and assuming I match up with the requirements, I'd be able to graduate? Assuming they took most of my credits, it would appear the only thing I'd potentially need is a few more credits from the 45 300+ level classes.

As far as the American big 3, It looks like LDAS at Edison may be a good route for me as it looks like I meet most of the requirements for potentially doing that and could potentially get in and out of that fairly quickly.

As for what classes I've taken, I don't have a transcript available at the moment so this is all based off memory and looking at a current course catalog, all of these credits were taken with the same 4 year brick and mortar school all traditionally earned, most are 3 credit/semester classes.

Outside of major
100-200 level
English 1, English 2, Algebra, Statistics, Psych 1, Nutrition, 2 history courses, Public Speaking, Chemistry 1, Physics 1, World Art, Marketing 1 African American studies, I also took about 2 semesters worth of journalism classes mixed in there so about 5 classes total.

3-400 level
2-3 marketing classes and 1-2 more random other classes I believe.

In major
1-200 level classes
Introduction to Industrial Design, Woods 101, Plastics 101, Hot Metals 101, Cold Metals 101, Industrial Drawing and CAD, Perspective Drawing, Digital Composition, Beginning Industrial Design Studio, Technology and Design: Global Perspectives, Manufacturing Materials and Processes, Product Photography, 2D Art, 3D art, Drawing I


3-400 level classes
Advanced Sketching, Wood Furniture Design I, Industrial Design Model Making, Computer Aided Modeling, Design for Production, History of Industrial Product Design, Surface Modeling for Industrial Design, Human Factors Engineering

100 level: estimate 34 classes, about 102 credits and I'd be willing to bet I forgot at least 2-3 classes here.

3-400 level: rough estimate of 10-12 classes, about half were 4 credit classes if I remember correctly. so probably about 35 credits

Thanks to everyone for your help so far, and thanks in advance to anyone else who may reply here.

[mednat]

It's going to be really hard to guess how these will transcribe. I'm going to agree with the majority here who say apply to all 3 (4 if you count KayV's suggestion) and see how the credits apply. Making any suggestions on school without seeing that would be premature given the amount of work you've already done.

I believe COSC had a design your own major option at one time. That may be something to consider if you have enough UL classes after transcription.

https://www.charteroak.edu/prospective/p...tudies.cfm

[rebel100]

Money is no object you say, so apply to all three and see what they tell you.

A really quick read on my part but I think you may only need a class or two in general ED and the 3 credit cornerstone and the 3 credit capstone at Charter Oak. I doubt they would require additional electives or upper level courses.

I believe it would be a general studies degree, but they may let you call it some sort of concentration.

[KayV]

Just switch your program from a BGS in Arts and Science to a BGS in Applied Studies and you should be good to go. Athabasca gives different course credits; their 100 level is US remedial level, AU 200 is US freshman level, and AU 300 and 400 are generally US sophomore level and up. The trick is that they require a lot of upper level credits. On the bright side, there are some surprises, like English Comp 2 being an upper level credit.

Here is an idea of where your credits would go in a BGS in Applied Studies. You also have a lot of excess credits.

Athabasca University
Bachelor of General Studies in Applied Studies Needdegree123

A. General Education Requirements
1. Written English Requirement: English 1 AU ENGL 255
2. Humanities: History 1 AU HIST 201
3. Humanities: History 2 AU HIST 202
4. Science: Chemistry 1 AU CHEM 217
5. Science: Physics 1 AU PHYS 200
6. Social Science: Psych 1 AU PSYC 290
7. Social Science: African-American Studies AU CLST 2XX

B. Junior Level, Applied Studies
8. Introduction to Industrial Design AU APST 2XX
9. Woods 101 AU APST 2XX
10. Plastics 101 AU APST 2XX
11. Hot Metals 101 AU APST 2XX

C. Junior Level, Any Area of Study
12. Industrial Drawing and CAD AU APST 230
13. Statistics AU MATH 215
14. Algebra AU MATH 2XX
15. Computer Aided Modeling AU APST 220

D. Senior Level, Applied Studies
16. Advanced Sketching AU APST 3XX
17. Industrial Design Model Making AU APST 3XX
18. Design for Production AU APST 3XX
19. History of Industrial Product Design AU APST 3XX
20. Surface Modeling for Industrial Design AU APST 3XX
21. Human Factors Engineering AU APST 3XX
22. Intro to Marketing AU MKTG 396
23. Marketing 2 AU MKTG 4XX
24. Marketing 3 AU MKTG 4XX
25. Random UL 1 AU ???? 3XX

E. Senior Level, Any Area of Study
26. English 2 AU ENGL 353
27. Nutrition AU NUTR 330
28. Technology and Design: Global Perspectives AU APST 3XX
29. Product Photography AU APST 3XX
30. Random UL 2 AU ???? 3XX

[alleycat]

As KayV has pointed out AU can/could be a great choice, but be ready for it not being so straightforward. A friend of mine breezed through no problems. I sent someone else there and it's been a nightmare for them. Courses that clearly are in their own system as upper level are not transferring as such. When pointed out they are demanding course outlines and syllabus for all of them. I find through this person experience that the guidance and care for this student is lacking. She has gotten no set direction or support. If everything fits than AU is a great bet. But if you come in with different sorts of credits that are not within their school it can be tough. But this school is not transcribing Ethics, Marketing, HRH, B Law, and several others that are upper level as upper level. It's been painful to watch. I was a great supporter of this program after being introduced to it. But now I will have a hard time recommending it to anyone. Plus my friend paid I believe 100 to apply than you gave to pay for the transcripts to be evaluated which is at least another 100. She is still she is stuck in limbo with this school. It took 12 wks for her evaluate to be done.