Need help planning a business degree

[Claudia P]

Hello everyone.  I am so happy to have found this forum.  
I am completely new here, and just learning about how to complete a degree with alternative credits.  Up until recently, I thought the only way to earn any degree was to attend community college or university classes.

I found this forum after recently dropping my community college Algebra class (it moved so fast, and I was completely lost).  I was researching self-paced and alternative ways to earn that credit, and thanks to this forum, found out I may be able to earn almost an entire degree with alternative credits!

I can dedicate myself full-time to trying to earn my bachelor's degree for the next nine to eighteen months - then I will need to go back to work full time and go to school part-time.  

I have been reading here about TESU's Associates and Bachelors programs, as well as Charter Oak, Colorado State University Global, and now University of Maine, Presque Isle (UMPI).  
I am still learning about all of my school and credit options (like CLEP, Sophia, StraighterLine, Saylor, etc.) and I am certainly flexible and open to all suggestions for schools and credit options that would help me earn my Bachelor's degree as quickly as possible.
I would like to earn as many CLEP, Sophia, and alternative credits as possible and then transfer to a school to finish a degree.

I have attached additional info about me here (credits earned to date; course strengths/weaknesses; dream job) for anyone that would like to offer advice.
Thank you in advance for any school/course recommendations and advice.  

[bjcheung77]

Hi Claudia! I don't seem to see an attachment or anything for the post above. You may want to send us a link to your google or one drive for the file, I usually just share the link so anyone having the link can view but not edit the file. Yes, I highly suggest the CLEP/MS and Sophia.org option to get your lower level, up to the first 90 credits, the remainder depends on the degree and school of choice.

[thecontrarian]

Claudia

Cant see your attachment, but I’d recommend UPMI for sure. Easy you can do bachelors for a couple of G’s. Wish I could do it but I am under 20. Best option is to max out Sophia and SDC. You will crank thru these courses especially if full time. Myself I did more the CLEP route which was harder but free.

Most important question for me, which Degree are you after?

[Claudia P]

Hi Claudia!  I don't seem to see an attachment or anything for the post above.  You may want to send us a link to your google or one drive for the file, I usually just share the link so anyone having the link can view but not edit the file.  Yes, I highly suggest the CLEP/MS and Sophia.org option to get your lower level, up to the first 90 credits, the remainder depends on the degree and school of choice.

Hello Bjcheung77:
Thank you so much for the reply.  I have updated my post with a link to a google doc. 
Appreciate your feedback.
Thank you,
Claudia

---

Claudia

Cant see your attachment, but I’d recommend UPMI for sure. Easy you can do bachelors for a couple of G’s. Wish I could do it but I am under 20. Best option is to max out Sophia and SDC. You will crank thru these courses especially if full time. Myself I did more the CLEP route which was harder but free.

Most important question for me, which Degree are you after?

Hello TheContrarian:
Thank you so much for the reply.
Wow, how many CLEP tests have you taken?  I am currently looking at CLEP for Micro and Macroeconomics, but I have read those two courses are tough to CLEP out of.
I have updated my post with a link to a google doc with more of my info.  
I was originally aiming for an Associate's Degree in Business, but would love to earn a Bachelor of Arts in Business, Project Management, or Organizational Management.  
I would appreciate your feedback.

Thank you,
Claudia

[LevelUP]

Hello everyone.  I am so happy to have found this forum.  
I am completely new here, and just learning about how to complete a degree with alternative credits.  Up until recently, I thought the only way to earn any degree was to attend community college or university classes.

I found this forum after recently dropping my community college Algebra class (it moved so fast, and I was completely lost).  I was researching self-paced and alternative ways to earn that credit, and thanks to this forum, found out I may be able to earn almost an entire degree with alternative credits!

I can dedicate myself full-time to trying to earn my bachelor's degree for the next nine to eighteen months - then I will need to go back to work full time and go to school part-time.  

I have been reading here about TESU's Associates and Bachelors programs, as well as Charter Oak, Colorado State University Global, and now University of Maine, Presque Isle (UMPI).  
I am still learning about all of my school and credit options (like CLEP, Sophia, StraighterLine, Saylor, etc.) and I am certainly flexible and open to all suggestions for schools and credit options that would help me earn my Bachelor's degree as quickly as possible.
I would like to earn as many CLEP, Sophia, and alternative credits as possible and then transfer to a school to finish a degree.

I have attached additional info about me here (credits earned to date; course strengths/weaknesses; dream job) for anyone that would like to offer advice.
Thank you in advance for any school/course recommendations and advice.  

I would forget CLEPs. Just do Sophia, which is open book for everything.  Then take InstantCert, Study.com for everything else you need.  The Bachelors in Business Administration degree lines up well with your career and what you took in college.  

TESU, you could do Bachelors's in Business Administration and at the same time go for the Associates in Computer Science.  The 2 courses are mostly papers.

UMPI college you could do a Bachelors in Business Administration.  Since you already know Spanish, getting credit for it should be easy.  UMPI is mainly based on writing papers which is where your strength is.  

Charter Oak has a  Bachelors's in Business Administration, but you don't save any time or money going there versus UMPI.

WGU and Purdue Global also have Bachelors in Business Administration, which probably will take a bit longer to complete.

After you graduate college, then go for some IT certifications if you want.

Many of us here only put in 20hrs a week on college studies and still get a degree in 6-12 months, starting from scratch.  So if you plan on doing this full-time, things should go quickly.

I suggest figuring this all out over the next 30-60 days.  It's free to signup for Sophia's free trial, which doesn't have a time limit.  The free trial will give you access to the first lesson of every course and will give you an idea of how Sophia's classes work.  
https://www.sophia.org/free-trial/

[bjcheung77]

@Rachel83az, can you leave your post but move the others to a new thread? Is there an option for that within the menus?

[rachel83az]

Yep! I wasn't able to split to a new thread before because I was on mobile at the time. Now, we've got a new thread.

Business/Data Analyst and Project Manager are pretty different fields. Which would you most like to do?

You say that you find the concept of Calc and Statistics to be daunting. This does limit your options at other schools, but both TESU and UMPI have options for you. Business/Data Analyst jobs tend to prefer Math or Computer Science (not BSBA Computer Information Systems) degrees. If you want to go this route, it will be challenging but doable.

Let's start with a TESU Comp Sci degree first. See https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Sa...ts_Roadmap and also https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Sa...ience_Plan to see exactly what's required.

TESU allows you to bring in Algebra and Statistics from Sophia. As previously stated, everything at Sophia is open-book. The Statistics course at Sophia is pretty easy, so long as you watch the available videos. See https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/So...rning,_LLC for more hints regarding taking Sophia courses.

To prepare for Calculus, take Precalculus (FOR FREE) at ASU: https://ea.asu.edu/courses/precalculus-mat-170/ Choose the "self-paced" option. It uses an adaptive learning program called ALEKS that figures out what you know and teaches you what you have the most difficulty with. When not taking it for credit (credit is not necessary for you), you're free to take as many notes as you want and to use whatever calculators you feel are necessary to help you with your understanding.

For Calculus, the current recommendation for those who are not confident in the subject is to take it at StraighterLine. StraighterLine's Calc course is entirely open-book (even the final proctored exam). The points are structured such that it's relatively easy to pass the course without even passing the final exam: 70% "homework" and 30% final exam. Unlike some of the Calc courses out there, you're permitted to use a graphing calculator on the final exam. Current recommendation is to acquire a TI-Nspire calculator and use that through the course and on the final exam.

You would also need Discrete Math in order to get a TESU Comp Sci degree. The only alternative option for this is Study.com. With SDC, 30% of the grade comes from the "homework" (quizzes) and 70% from the final exam. You need to get 100% on the quizzes within the first 3 attempts (sounds more stressful than it is; the quiz questions for a given section are EXACTLY the same each time you take the quiz). But, because it's a pass/fail course, you only need to get 56% on the final exam in order to pass the course. As long as you pay attention to your quiz scores, most students have no issues passing this course.

If you go this route, total additional cost should be approximately $7k for a TESU degree.

But maybe the Comp Sci degree is too much math for you? That's fine. Personally, I don't think that I would recommend TESU's BSBA Computer Information Systems degree for you. I don't think it aligns very well with your stated goals. But UMPI has a BABA with a Project Management concentration: https://online.umpi.edu/programs/ba-busi...-mgmt.aspx

To get this, you'd take a number of courses from Sophia (but NOT Project Management from them!), Spanish at InstantCert, and BIO 101L from Study.com. You'd finish off with 30+ credits at UMPI. One of these will be a Business Math course that has been stated to be extremely easy; easier than Algebra.

If you lean more toward UMPI, check out the Smartsheet linked in this thread https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...-for-3-222 to give you an idea of what to take at Sophia. Again, do NOT take Sophia's Project Management if you want the BABA Project Management degree. Otherwise, the GEC requirements & electives are (IIRC) largely the same between Management & Project Management.

[dfrecore]

IMHO, your best bets are the TESU BSBA/CIS degree, or UMPI's BABA/PM; ultimately, UMPI will probably be cheaper, especially for someone who has time to dedicate to their studies.

With UMPI, you already have the electives covered, so you would just need to 1) put in the courses you've already completed (Comp I & II, Speech, EnvSci, Global Issues should all fit in the GEC, and Accounting will work in the core, the rest should all be electives); 2) take Bio w/lab and American Government at Study.com; 3) take the rest of the GEC through Sophia; and finally 4) take any remaining core via Study.com. I think that it would be very easy to do this in a short amount of time, and then finish 13 courses (by my count) for the degree. I'm guessing you could do Study.com and Sophia in 6 months or less, and then do UMPI in 2 terms.

I would plan carefully so as not to take any unneeded courses, since you don't have time/money to waste on the endeavor. So don't just randomly take a bunch of Sophia courses, PLAN them out.

[Claudia P]

Oh my goodness. I am so amazed at all the wonderful advice from all of you! Thank you, thank you!
I am so grateful to all of you, and so impressed by all of your experience and credentials!!
To answer some of your questions about a Computer Science degree, I don't believe I want to go that route at this point in my life.
The more I research UMPI, the more it sounds like a good fit.
I will certainly get busy looking at all the information you all provided and finalizing my decision for which degree I want.
I will have some follow up questions for some of you. I hope that is okay.

[thecontrarian]

Oh my goodness.  I am so amazed at all the wonderful advice from all of you!  Thank you, thank you!  
I am so grateful to all of you, and so impressed by all of your experience and credentials!!
To answer some of your questions about a Computer Science degree, I don't believe I want to go that route at this point in my life.
The more I research UMPI, the more it sounds like a good fit.
I will certainly get busy looking at all the information you all provided and finalizing my decision for which degree I want.
I will have some follow up questions for some of you.  I hope that is okay.

UMPI gives you one big thing over TESU and that is flexibility. With TESU you’re sort of locked into something and gotta make it work, UMPI gives you more options.