I Need A Plan! Please Help. So Confused....

[MiRaeDo2010]

Ok I have never been to college but I have set my sites on the Health Care Management, MBA dual degree program at Excelsior. I have printed copious amounts out of the publications section but I am still confused.

I want to take and test out of as many courses as I can before I even enroll. The problem is (and I may be wrong or looking in the wrong place) it seems the info on what exactly I need to take is limited as far as general education requirements.

1) Are electives pretty much anything in that category or are there specific things I can take as far as electives?

2) I saw a list in the guide to credit by exam of tests that are approved in a little checklist form but are those all the tests that are accepted or are there more somewhere?

3) Is anyone else doing this degree?

4) Could someone help me come up with a road map? I've been researching the heck out of this forum but just don't want to waste time or money that I don't have.

I appreciate your help from the bottom of my heart!

[MISin08]

Welcome to the forum!

That's a pretty fun-looking degree! I'm looking at the curriculum from the EC website. Most of what you may be thinking of as Gen Ed falls under the Arts and Sciences (A&S) and Additional Credit components. Before I say anything else: everything you read on this forum about what fits where is speculation based on experience and knowledgeable guesswork. Your advisor once you enroll is the final authority. That said, a lot of us have experience with advisors at EC

1. Electives are usually just that -- your choice. I see there's a spot for A&S electives. This is where you might want to take some psychology, gen science, history, etc. This is a great area to cover by testing. Business/Health Care electives under the Professional component is where you might take classes such Marketing Management (they want you to have upper level marketing) and Quality Assurance (big big topic in health care these days). Upper-level means junior/senior year, aka 300-400 level classes.
2. The guide to credit by exam covers most of what's out there. There are others (Ohio University comes to mind), but if it's on the list, then you know up front EC will accept it. If you haven't already go to the CLEP and DSST websites and learn about them.
3. See this thread
4. Road maps are kind of a learn as you go thing and you may change it as you get your feet wet. Here's some starting points:

• You write that you've never been to college. How long have you been out of school? Are you working? How long in the workforce? These details will help us help you. Have you any experiences or training that may be applied to credit in degree areas?
  
• You can start taking exams for credit before roadmap is complete, because there are so many general requirements. A business degree roadmap (there are a few in the forum) will serve as a rough guide. Start with Art & Sciences because there are a number of exams there that are good for beginners.
  
• All the Humanities and Social Sciences credits are available by exam. For your first few exams: consider Sociology (good first exam, it will tell you if credit by exam is for you), Psychology, Humanities CLEP and Analyzing & Interpreting Literature.
  
• Search on here for info on meeting the Written English Requirement (WER). I met mine a long time ago so I don't know about it.
  
• All the business Core except Research is available by CLEP/DSST.
  
• This degree appears to not require College Algebra, which is unexpected IMHO in a MBA-bound degree. Whatever you take for the Quant Analysis requirement may assume at least a little Algebra knowledge. I took Quant Methods at EC and it wasn't intense on Algebra (lol! I haven't taken Algebra yet, and I got an A) but some knowledge was helpful.
  
• Recommendation: opinions vary on whether it's best to go for high test scores or go for speed & getting done sooner. My 2 cents: if it relates to future learning or the subject interests you, go for the higher score.
  

I've gotten long-winded here, time for someone else's turn. Hope this helps.

Phillip

[rashaun35]

Hi Mirae

I posted a thread about this subject a couple of weeks ago

http://www.degreeforum.net/excelsior-tho...dents.html

Marianne was very helpful with her responses. This dual BS/MBA programs is new to EC I believe September is the first month that they're offering it, so feedback on this particular program may be scarce. Since you're just beginning your journey and so am I maybe we can can help each other out. I have a few B&M credits but will be testing out of as much as I can. I'm still putting together my plan since all of this is very new and somewhat overwhelming to me but I'm determined to reach my goal.

SN: I don't know how to make links condensed and clickable like the previous poster if anyone is willing to offer instructions on how to do so please chime in

[MISin08]

SN: I don't know how to make links condensed and clickable like the previous poster if anyone is willing to offer instructions on how to do so please chime in

When writing your post, select the text you want to make into a link, then click the icon that looks like a blue ball and a lazy 8 (or planet earth and link of chain). A little box will appear. Paste the URL of the linked page into the little box. Click OK. It's not a bad idea to test the link using the "preview post" button, to make sure it goes where you want it to.

Phillip

[rashaun35]

When writing your post, select the text you want to make into a link, then click the icon that looks like a blue ball and a lazy 8 (or planet earth and link of chain). A little box will appear. Paste the URL of the linked page into the little box. Click OK. It's not a bad idea to test the link using the "preview post" button, to make sure it goes where you want it to.

Phillip

Thanks Phillip!!!