Newbie needs help with road map

[HAL]

Hello all. This site has been a a deciding factor for me to go back to school especially after reading about how most of you have attained various degree through clep or self study. As an individual who is new to this country i have no college back ground at all. I have been working in the finance field for the past 8 years so i think its best for me to put this experience to use and consider a degree in either finance or accounting.

My questions are

1) I understand the difference between CLEP and DSST is higher level courses (?) but how can one tell which one is applicable for a certain course credit.

2) Out of the big 3 which college is best for finance/accounting bachelor degree?

3) Can a current student help/provide me with a road map to attain a degree in accounting. I am not asking for help because of laziness but because i cant figure out all the details.


I would really appreciate any help provided. Thanks!

[EI2HCB]

HAL, welcome to the forum, Answer to question 1 is it depends on the school.
As for a finance or accounting BA or BS in the big three, It is my understanding that they have a similar reputation. In that they aren't prestigious colleges but they certainly are accredited. Do you have an accounting or bookkeeping job now? Some employers now look for an AACSB certified business school, which as far as I know none of the big three currently are. If you want to test out of your degree in a single year TESC (Thomas Edison State College) is a good choice. If you want to test out of a lot of General education but get a GPA in each of your accounting subjects then Excelsior may be a better option. (I'm doing business with HR at Excelsior) I'm doing some HR courses and gen Eds with EC as I have some financial aid to use. So I can at least assist you in degree planning when it comes to the business school at EC. There is a young lady who just got her accounting degree at TESC recently whom I'll message and see if she has time to respond. She only comes here every month or so since she's completed her education.
In most cases your general education is going to be the same regardless of were you attend. That can be done in numerous ways using CLEP and DSST including some of the basic accounting courses. Once you get those out of the way you can then plan on having your previous credits analyzed and then you can start planning the rest. So my advice is to deal with your Gen eds first using some of the resources available through Instantcert and others suggested throughout the site. The next step would be to see if you qualify for financial aid and if you want to use it. I'm signed up at EC for $150 per year but have to take 12 credits before I graduate this means I'm paying for some courses which may not be as wise as some people, who test out of the majority of their requirements. I think that the Fin - Aid is useful to assist me in gaining a good GPA and meeting the 12 credits but just barely if you have many years of Fin - aid available then taking courses at a cheaper location than EC may be a better bet. I only have one year of it available, I recently got married and so my income level exceeds the threshold for fin-aid so I'm taking advantage of it at the moment. So list the CLEPs and credits you've already attained and we'll be able to provide some guidance.

[HAL]

Thanks for taking the time out to respond.

As for a finance or accounting BA or BS in the big three, It is my understanding that they have a similar reputation. In that they aren't prestigious colleges but they certainly are accredited. Some employers now look for an AACSB certified business school, which as far as I know none of the big three currently are.

So is it better to look up a local community college like college of Dupage instead? Their 3+1 degree is through benedictine which is not a AACSB certified institution either.

Do you have an accounting or bookkeeping job now?

No. I help people with home mortgages and loans.

In most cases your general education is going to be the same regardless of were you attend. That can be done in numerous ways using CLEP and DSST including some of the basic accounting courses. Once you get those out of the way you can then plan on having your previous credits analyzed and then you can start planning the rest.

How do i figure out which CLEP test to take so they count as credit.

So list the CLEPs and credits you've already attained and we'll be able to provide some guidance.

I have no credits at all. none. zero.


I know it sounds dumb while i type all this but i really am having a hard time wrapping my head around this whole thing.

[HAL]

I found one road map courtesy of Infantryexcel
My Free Degree From Excelsior College

Bachelor of Science in Business, Concentration: General Business from Excelsior College

Arts and Science – 60 Needed

CLEP History of the United States I 3 Instant Cert
CLEP History of the United States II 3 Instant Cert
CLEP College Composition 3 Taken Class
CLEP Humanities 6 Instant Cert
CLEP Biology 6 Instant Cert
CLEP College Mathematics 6 Instant Cert
CLEP Introductory Psychology 3 SpeedyPrep
CLEP American Government 3 Instant Cert
CLEP Social Sciences and History 6 Book
CLEP Microeconomics 3 Instant Cert
CLEP Macroeconomics 3 Taken Class
CLEP Introductory Sociology 3 Instant Cert
CLEP American Literature 6 SpeedyPrep
CLEP College Algebra 3 Taken Class
DSST Principles of Statistics 3 Instant Cert or MAT-201 Statistics 3 Excelsior College

Career Component – 45 Needed (12 Upper)

CLEP Financial Accounting 3 Taken Class
CLEP Intro to Business Law 3 Taken Class
CLEP Information Systems 3 Instant Cert
CLEP Principles of Management 3 Instant Cert
CLEP Principles of Marketing 3 Instant Cert
DSST Principles of Finance 3 Instant Cert or BUS-350 Principles of Finance 3 Excelsior College
DSST Business Ethics Instant Cert or 3 BUS-323 Business Ethics 3 Excelsior College
BUS-553 Organizational Behavior 3 Excelsior College
ACC -212 Managerial Accounting 3 Excelsior College
BUS-520 Operations Management 3 Excelsior College
BUS-495 Business Strategy 3 Excelsior College
BUS-300 Introduction to Entrepreneurship 3 Excelsior College
BUS-312 Managing Human Resources 3 Excelsior College
BUS-310 Entrepreneurial Marketing 3 Excelsior College
DSST Management Information Systems 3 Instant Cert or BUS-452 Business Leadership 3 Excelsior College

Electives – 15 Needed ( May be Covered by Basic Training / AIT AARTS Transcript )

Information Literacy 1
CLEP Precalculus 3 Book
CLEP Natural Sciences 6 SpeedyPrep
CLEP Analyzing and Interpreting Literature 6 SpeedyPrep



This is from 2011 so not sure how much it has changed. What is the general feeling on this plan?

[EI2HCB]

Don't worry Hal, it takes time. CLEPs work at Community College too! Here's the issue you can take accounting classes at a community college which will teach you to do what I do which is bookkeeping. They usually are not credit bearing so be very careful. You mention Dupage, is that in Illinois? I just moved here from Ireland a year ago and I know there's a Dupage county near me.

Lets say you sign up for a accounting degree at Northern Illinois University (don't) but lets say you do. You'll need 120 credits to get your degree, approximately 45-60 of them will be general education like maths, science, history, humanities, ect. If you go to an AACSB school you'll do about 60 liberal arts credit courses and the rest will be in business and accounting. You can either take the 60 credits and pay $460 each for them at NIU or you can take CLEP tests for 30 of them and pay for the rest. (NIU only allows 30 credit via testing) So you could take humanities, A&I lit Clep which would give you 12 liberal arts credits you could take western civ 1 and 2 which would give you either another 6 liberal arts credits or social science depending on what way the school awards them. You may not know unless they have a website page dedicated to that which most of them do.
I'm leaving the library for the evening but I'll log in later if you have more questions feel free of if you have Skype we can chat that way if that's more helpful.

[EI2HCB]

I found one road map courtesy of Infantryexcel
My Free Degree From Excelsior College

Bachelor of Science in Business, Concentration: General Business from Excelsior College

Arts and Science – 60 Needed

CLEP History of the United States I 3 Instant Cert
CLEP History of the United States II 3 Instant Cert
CLEP College Composition 3 Taken Class
CLEP Humanities 6 Instant Cert
CLEP Biology 6 Instant Cert
CLEP College Mathematics 6 Instant Cert
CLEP Introductory Psychology 3 SpeedyPrep
CLEP American Government 3 Instant Cert
CLEP Social Sciences and History 6 Book
CLEP Microeconomics 3 Instant Cert
CLEP Macroeconomics 3 Taken Class
CLEP Introductory Sociology 3 Instant Cert
CLEP American Literature 6 SpeedyPrep
CLEP College Algebra 3 Taken Class
DSST Principles of Statistics 3 Instant Cert or MAT-201 Statistics 3 Excelsior College

Career Component – 45 Needed (12 Upper)

CLEP Financial Accounting 3 Taken Class
CLEP Intro to Business Law 3 Taken Class
CLEP Information Systems 3 Instant Cert
CLEP Principles of Management 3 Instant Cert
CLEP Principles of Marketing 3 Instant Cert
DSST Principles of Finance 3 Instant Cert or BUS-350 Principles of Finance 3 Excelsior College
DSST Business Ethics Instant Cert or 3 BUS-323 Business Ethics 3 Excelsior College
BUS-553 Organizational Behavior 3 Excelsior College
ACC -212 Managerial Accounting 3 Excelsior College
BUS-520 Operations Management 3 Excelsior College
BUS-495 Business Strategy 3 Excelsior College
BUS-300 Introduction to Entrepreneurship 3 Excelsior College
BUS-312 Managing Human Resources 3 Excelsior College
BUS-310 Entrepreneurial Marketing 3 Excelsior College
DSST Management Information Systems 3 Instant Cert or BUS-452 Business Leadership 3 Excelsior College

Electives – 15 Needed ( May be Covered by Basic Training / AIT AARTS Transcript )

Information Literacy 1
CLEP Precalculus 3 Book
CLEP Natural Sciences 6 SpeedyPrep
CLEP Analyzing and Interpreting Literature 6 SpeedyPrep



This is from 2011 so not sure how much it has changed. What is the general feeling on this plan?

This is very similar to my business degree with a focus on HR You'd replace BUS 300's with accounting classes which I'll have a look for you later