Overwhelmed with info but excited to start my BA- just a few questions

[hexclep]

Hi everyone, been lurking here and on reddit for a few weeks trying to put a gameplan together. I've been working since high school so I'm brand spanking new. 

I was initially planning on mainly using cleps and modern states, but started reading about Sophia and those options. Before I fall into analysis paralysis again, I thought I'd reach out. 

Is there a new version of this sample roadmap available for BA in liberal arts?  Sample Excelsior Degree Requirements Roadmap - Degree Forum Wiki (miraheze.org). I saw a few threads from the OP but the google docs link to their spreadsheet says its been deleted. In the link for example, everything below ethics is entirely blank. I reached out to another student on reddit for their plan, since they recently started their Sophia roadmap in the last month, but is there anyone else here who is currently or has recently completed their Liberal Arts degree and has a list of what they took to share? I'd appreciate any help or anybody pointing me in the right direction. 

Since I'm starting from scratch, I know I can knock out random courses and gen ed requirements, and plan to take 3 cleps next week. But reading comments here, it seems smart to get ahead of that and formulate a real course plan. Thanks

Quick edit: i stumbled upon https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1...d=75132863 which shows a full plan for a BA at EU for Business and LA. Is study.com the only options for some of the requirements listed, or can CLEP exams replace them? I ask because CLEP exams can be "paid for" by Modern States but I'm unsure of how costly Study.com will be.

[bjcheung77]

@hexclep, Welcome to the board, that's a good introduction with some of the basic details in the template. Having said that, it's missing most of the info in the addendum. The more info from you, the more detailed a response... You should still fill us in with additional details on the template and addendum here: https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...Area-works

We're here to provide you any assistance we can, I understand you're trying to save and budget your classes, you can CLEP/MS and use other ACE providers such as Saylor.org, Sophia.org, Study.com or NCCRS options such as Davar, LawShelf, OnlineDegree. We're here to advise a mix of cheap, easy, fast, it really depends on your scenario and info on the addendum/template.

[LevelUP]

Hi everyone, been lurking here and on reddit for a few weeks trying to put a gameplan together. I've been working since high school so I'm brand spanking new. 

I was initially planning on mainly using cleps and modern states, but started reading about Sophia and those options. Before I fall into analysis paralysis again, I thought I'd reach out. 

Is there a new version of this sample roadmap available for BA in liberal arts?  Sample Excelsior Degree Requirements Roadmap - Degree Forum Wiki (miraheze.org). I saw a few threads from the OP but the google docs link to their spreadsheet says its been deleted. In the link for example, everything below ethics is entirely blank. I reached out to another student on reddit for their plan, since they recently started their Sophia roadmap in the last month, but is there anyone else here who is currently or has recently completed their Liberal Arts degree and has a list of what they took to share? I'd appreciate any help or anybody pointing me in the right direction. 

Since I'm starting from scratch, I know I can knock out random courses and gen ed requirements, and plan to take 3 cleps next week. But reading comments here, it seems smart to get ahead of that and formulate a real course plan. Thanks

Quick edit: i stumbled upon https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1...d=75132863 which shows a full plan for a BA at EU for Business and LA. Is study.com the only options for some of the requirements listed, or can CLEP exams replace them? I ask because CLEP exams can be "paid for" by Modern States but I'm unsure of how costly Study.com will be.

Excelsior doesn't take CLEP College Comp. They will take a lot of other CLEPs.

Here are the equivalency lists we have for Excelsior
https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Co...ding_Tests

Dfrecore knows the most about Excelsior. That would be the person to ask degree planning questions.

[dfrecore]

There are too many options to list. But if you're starting from scratch and want a BLS or Business degree, Excelsior is a good option (UMPI is also good).

Here are the "rules" of a BLS degree there:
1) 120cr, only 7cr need to be taken at EU - Info Lit, Cornerstone (UL) and Capstone (UL)
2) 60cr+ of Arts & Sciences: A&S = SocSci, Humanities, NatSci and Math
- 21cr+ of this must be UL (including capstone, so you'll need to bring in 18cr+ of UL)
3) 60cr max of Free Electives: these are anything except the above, including business, CompSci, etc.
- 9cr of this must be UL (including cornerstone, so you'll need to bring in 6cr of UL)

Here are the "rules" of a BSB degree there:
1) 120cr, only 7cr need to be taken at EU - Info Lit, Cornerstone (UL) and Capstone (UL)
2) 60cr+ of Arts & Sciences: A&S = SocSci, Humanities, NatSci and Math
- instead of Composition II, you need to take ENG-102: Business Writing (Coopersmith)
- Business Ethics, Macroecon, Microecon, College Algebra, and Stats are all required
- BUS 307: Leadership and Organizational Behavior (SDC) is required and is 3cr UL
- MAT-303: Quantitative Analysis (Coopersmith) is required and is 3cr UL
3) 30cr in the Business Core, lilsted in catalog
- Prin of Management (Sophia) - UL
- FIN 301: Corporate Finance (SDC) - UL
- BUS 308: Globalization and International Management (SDC) - UL
- Captone is UL
4) Concentration: General Business: 15cr, 9cr of which is UL
- any 3 UL Business courses from SDC
- any 2 LL business courses
5) Free Electives
- Info Lit
- Cornerstone - UL
- Any 4 courses

There are other places to get your UL business courses (Coopersmith or Davar), but I don't know how EU brings them all in, so can't help much with those - EXCEPT the 2 required courses that I have listed from Coopersmith, because those are the only places I know to get those particular courses.

[hexclep]

There are too many options to list.  But if you're starting from scratch and want a BLS or Business degree, Excelsior is a good option (UMPI is also good).

Here are the "rules" of a BLS degree there:
1) 120cr, only 7cr need to be taken at EU - Info Lit, Cornerstone (UL) and Capstone (UL)
2) 60cr+ of Arts & Sciences: A&S = SocSci, Humanities, NatSci and Math
- 21cr+ of this must be UL (including capstone, so you'll need to bring in 18cr+ of UL)
3) 60cr max of Free Electives: these are anything except the above, including business, CompSci, etc.
- 9cr of this must be UL (including cornerstone, so you'll need to bring in 6cr of UL)

Here are the "rules" of a BSB degree there:
1) 120cr, only 7cr need to be taken at EU - Info Lit, Cornerstone (UL) and Capstone (UL)
2) 60cr+ of Arts & Sciences: A&S = SocSci, Humanities, NatSci and Math
- instead of Composition II, you need to take ENG-102: Business Writing (Coopersmith)
- Business Ethics, Macroecon, Microecon, College Algebra, and Stats are all required
- BUS 307: Leadership and Organizational Behavior (SDC) is required and is 3cr UL
- MAT-303: Quantitative Analysis (Coopersmith) is required and is 3cr UL
3) 30cr in the Business Core, lilsted in catalog
- Prin of Management (Sophia) - UL
- FIN 301: Corporate Finance (SDC) - UL
- BUS 308: Globalization and International Management (SDC) - UL
- Captone is UL
4) Concentration: General Business: 15cr, 9cr of which is UL
- any 3 UL Business courses from SDC
- any 2 LL business courses
5) Free Electives
- Info Lit
- Cornerstone - UL
- Any 4 courses

There are other places to get your UL business courses (Coopersmith or Davar), but I don't know how EU brings them all in, so can't help much with those - EXCEPT the 2 required courses that I have listed from Coopersmith, because those are the only places I know to get those particular courses.

i appreciate your reply. I've seen you posting info all over this forum so I think I'll be working backwards and seeing what else you've answered that others have already asked. It seems like UMPI is the new favorite for certain degrees? I'll be looking into that as well. 

I signed up for Sophia last night and have knocked out two short courses so far, and I think for the next month I'll be knocking out the general requirements they offer. I have an American Govt clep exam scheduled for next week, and I WAS going to do college composition next, but it seems Excelsior doesnt accept it.

get_file (maine.edu)

going off of this list, it seems maybe UMPI would be the best course of action? Assuming I continue this hybrid sophia/clep schedule I want.

[davewill]

i appreciate your reply. I've seen you posting info all over this forum so I think I'll be working backwards and seeing what else you've answered that others have already asked. It seems like UMPI is the new favorite for certain degrees? I'll be looking into that as well. 

I signed up for Sophia last night and have knocked out two short courses so far, and I think for the next month I'll be knocking out the general requirements they offer. I have an American Govt clep exam scheduled for next week, and I WAS going to do college composition next, but it seems Excelsior doesnt accept it.

get_file (maine.edu)

going off of this list, it seems maybe UMPI would be the best course of action? Assuming I continue this hybrid sophia/clep schedule I want.

I'd say the UMPI is the current favorite IF:

1. They have a degree that suits your needs.
2. You are comfortable with the "pay by the term" model that requires you to accelerate your studies to keep the cost down.

If either of those are not the case, then there are other choices.

[dfrecore]

i appreciate your reply. I've seen you posting info all over this forum so I think I'll be working backwards and seeing what else you've answered that others have already asked. It seems like UMPI is the new favorite for certain degrees? I'll be looking into that as well. 

I signed up for Sophia last night and have knocked out two short courses so far, and I think for the next month I'll be knocking out the general requirements they offer. I have an American Govt clep exam scheduled for next week, and I WAS going to do college composition next, but it seems Excelsior doesnt accept it.

get_file (maine.edu)

going off of this list, it seems maybe UMPI would be the best course of action? Assuming I continue this hybrid sophia/clep schedule I want.

I'd say the UMPI is the current favorite IF:

1. They have a degree that suits your needs.
2. You are comfortable with the "pay by the term" model that requires you to accelerate your studies to keep the cost down.

If either of those are not the case, then there are other choices.

Agreed - UMPI will be the cheapest if you can go fast.  If you're going to take longer than 3 terms, then EU will be the cheapest.

EU has very limited choices if you want to keep costs to a minimum - the BLS, the BSB, and the BPS/Management.  Anything else will require more courses from other places (sometime people come in with courses already completed from a college/university).

UMPI has a lot more options, including the BLS with 5 options for minors, the BABA with 5 options for concentrations, a BA in Acctg, and BA's in CJ, English/Professional Writing, Psych, and History/PoliSci.

[hexclep]

Thanks for confirming. Excelsior seemed like the best choice at first but the lack of degree choices is why I'll be going with UMPI. I'll be sure to make a new post with progress updates in a few weeks.

[Mint Berry Crunch]

@hexclep, Welcome to the board, that's a good introduction with some of the basic details in the template. Having said that, it's missing most of the info in the addendum.  The more info from you, the more detailed a response... You should still fill us in with additional details on the template and addendum here: https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...Area-works

We're here to provide you any assistance we can, I understand you're trying to save and budget your classes, you can CLEP/MS and use other ACE providers such as Saylor.org, Sophia.org, Study.com or NCCRS options such as Davar, LawShelf, OnlineDegree.  We're here to advise a mix of cheap, easy, fast, it really depends on your scenario and info on the addendum/template.

I'm curious if any of the UL credits I took at UMPI can help me get to that magical 113/120 credits.

[rachel83az]

@hexclep, Welcome to the board, that's a good introduction with some of the basic details in the template. Having said that, it's missing most of the info in the addendum.  The more info from you, the more detailed a response... You should still fill us in with additional details on the template and addendum here: https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...Area-works

We're here to provide you any assistance we can, I understand you're trying to save and budget your classes, you can CLEP/MS and use other ACE providers such as Saylor.org, Sophia.org, Study.com or NCCRS options such as Davar, LawShelf, OnlineDegree.  We're here to advise a mix of cheap, easy, fast, it really depends on your scenario and info on the addendum/template.

I'm curious if any of the UL credits I took at UMPI can help me get to that magical 113/120 credits.

If you have a prior degree, Excelsior won't allow you to get another one. (They claim they will, but their advisors and other staff won't actually allow you enroll for it. They'll steer you toward a Master's degree instead.) TESU will allow second degrees, but you need to have 24 NEW credits since the previous degree was awarded. These 24 credits MUST be in the AOS and not gen ed/elective credits. 

https://tesu.smartcatalogiq.com/en/curre...es-policy/