Plan for Excelsior BS Liberal Arts

[JTPhoneHome]

Hello! Been lurking on these forums forever, spent the last few weeks devising a plan for Excelsior's BS in Liberal Arts. Any advice would be appreciated!

Your Location: Montana, US
Your Age: 25
What kind of degree do you want?: Any! Goal is law school, so I just need a Bachelor's in anything. Liberal Arts seemed the quickest route, but I'm open to other options!

Current ACE, CLEP, or NCCRS Credits:

AP English Language and Composition
AP Psychology
AP Statistics
AP US History

AP World History

Sophia Intro to Ethics
Sophia Human Biology


Any certifications or military experience? I am currently in class for my Clinical Medical Assistant Certification. I've read that Excelsior transfers up to 26 credits for it, but I'm not sure if they'd transfer into BSLA.

Current Plan (120)
This plan is for a total of 120 credits. I know I can only transfer in 113 (the Information Literacy, Cornerstone, and Capstone still apply, of course,) but I figured I'd build in an extra class or two in case they don't all transfer.

Lower Level Arts & Sciences (60)
(6) AP English Language and Composition - Written English Requirement
(3) Sophia Into to Ethics - Ethics Requirement/Humanities Distribution
(3) AP Statistics - Mathematics Distribution
(3) AP Psychology - Social Science Distribution
(3) AP US History - History Distribution
(3) AP World History - History Distribution
(3) Sophia Human Biology - Natural Science Distribution
(3) Sophia Environmental Science - Natural Science Distribution
(3) Sophia Intro to Chemistry - Natural Science Distribution
(3) Sophia College Algebra - Mathematics Distribution
(3) Sophia Intro to Sociology - Social Sciences Distribution
(6) Sophia Art History I and II - Humanities Distribution
(3) Sophia Ancient Greek Philosophers
(3) Sophia Approaches to Studying Religion
(3) Sophia Visual Communications
(3) Sophia Public Speaking
(3) Sophia Conflict Resolution
(3) Study.com Geology 101: Physical Geology

Lower Level Arts & Sciences and Applied Professional (30)
(3) Sophia Intro to IT
(3) Sophia Intro to Business
(3) Sophia Microeconomics
(3) Sophia Macroeconomics
(3) Study.com Education 101: Foundations of Education
(3) Study.com Nutrition 101: Science of Nutrition
(3) Study.com English 310: Short Stories
(3) Study.com Computer Science 105: Intro to Operating Systems
(3) Study.com Biology 105: Anatomy and Physiology
(3) Study.com Spanish 101: Beginning Spanish

Upper Level (30)
(3) Study.com English 305: Advanced Technical Writing - Arts & Sciences Requirement
(3) Study.com Psychology 311: Physiological Psychology - Arts & Sciences Requirement
(3) Study.com Psychology 315: Psychology of Motivation - Arts & Sciences Requirement
(3) Study.com Psychology 316: Advanced Social Psychology - Arts & Sciences Requirement
(3) UExcel Psychology of Adulthood and Aging - Arts & Sciences Requirement
(3) UExcel Research Methods in Psychology - Arts & Sciences Requirement
(3) UExcel World Population - Arts & Sciences Requirement
(3) Study.com Hospitality 309: Food & Beverage Service & Operations
(3) Study.com Health 301: Ethical and Legal Issues in Healthcare
(3) UExcel Juvenile Delinquency - JD Requirement

I have a background in most of these subjects, and I feel reasonably confident that I can teach myself (or lean on my friends with Masters in Psychology for study help) pretty much this whole plan.

Any advice or thoughts would be amazing!

Thanks for your time

[ss20ts]

Are you considering going for a master's before law school? Have you selected a law school already? I would check into law school grade and credit requirements before getting too far into a bachelor's degree filled with ACE credits. Law schools tend to be sticklers for their rules. That's not to say it can't be done. It just means to really investigate before making any decisions.

[LevelUP]

I would check into the requirements of law schools or master's programs you may be looking at, as they may want to see a certain number of graded credits.

SNHU, Purdue Global, and UMPI have graded credits, and it isn't hard to earn a very high GPA.

[rachel83az]

I agree with the others, make sure that you understand the requirements before heading down this path. Law schools seem to be antiquated. If you want a fast, cheap, and easy Liberal Studies degree, I would probably suggest UMPI for you, but don't transfer in more than 60 credits.

Assuming you can write well (which you'll need for law school anyway), you should be able to complete the remaining 60-90 credits in 4-6 terms (8-12 months) for around the same total cost as the cost of EC + alt credits. You could get done even more quickly and cheaply, but that depends a lot on the courses you choose and your own abilities. With UMPI, you'll have a ton of graded credits that will make the law schools happier.

Purdue and SNHU would cost a lot more for this approach. Purdue would be a lot more writing/effort, too, and would probably take longer, even if you were only going for 30 graded credits.

I'm also going to suggest a BABA from UMPI instead of Liberal Studies. Of law school doesn't work out for whatever reason (unable to finish due to personal circumstances), you'll still have a subject degree that can be more valuable for finding a job than a Lib Studies degree.

[JTPhoneHome]

I agree with the others, make sure that you understand the requirements before heading down this path. Law schools seem to be antiquated. If you want a fast, cheap, and easy Liberal Studies degree, I would probably suggest UMPI for you, but don't transfer in more than 60 credits.

Assuming you can write well (which you'll need for law school anyway), you should be able to complete the remaining 60-90 credits in 4-6 terms (8-12 months) for around the same total cost as the cost of EC + alt credits. You could get done even more quickly and cheaply, but that depends a lot on the courses you choose and your own abilities. With UMPI, you'll have a ton of graded credits that will make the law schools happier.

Purdue and SNHU would cost a lot more for this approach. Purdue would be a lot more writing/effort, too, and would probably take longer, even if you were only going for 30 graded credits.

I'm also going to suggest a BABA from UMPI instead of Liberal Studies. Of law school doesn't work out for whatever reason (unable to finish due to personal circumstances), you'll still have a subject degree that can be more valuable for finding a job than a Lib Studies degree.

Thanks for the advice! I hadn't considered that law schools wouldn't love this plan. I saw that the only requirement for the one I'm trying to attend was to "Have a Baccalaureate degree from a Regionally Accredited college." There aren't exactly Ivy League law schools here in Montana...

Why do you say going for a full 60 credits from UMPI instead of just the required 30? Would that not be enough graded courses?

If you have any knowledge of law school admissions in particular, do you think a good LSAT score would help mitigate uneasy feelings toward a degree with 90-113 ungraded credits? The median LSAT score for accepted students at the school I'm trying to attend is 153, and I've been scoring 165+ on all my practice LSATs.

One last question. I appreciate the advice on the BABA instead. Do you think the UMPI LA - Management degree would be useful at all in that context? I just personally can't stand Business classes and want to take as few possible.

Thank you so much!

[LevelUP]

I agree with the others, make sure that you understand the requirements before heading down this path. Law schools seem to be antiquated. If you want a fast, cheap, and easy Liberal Studies degree, I would probably suggest UMPI for you, but don't transfer in more than 60 credits.

Assuming you can write well (which you'll need for law school anyway), you should be able to complete the remaining 60-90 credits in 4-6 terms (8-12 months) for around the same total cost as the cost of EC + alt credits. You could get done even more quickly and cheaply, but that depends a lot on the courses you choose and your own abilities. With UMPI, you'll have a ton of graded credits that will make the law schools happier.

Purdue and SNHU would cost a lot more for this approach. Purdue would be a lot more writing/effort, too, and would probably take longer, even if you were only going for 30 graded credits.

I'm also going to suggest a BABA from UMPI instead of Liberal Studies. Of law school doesn't work out for whatever reason (unable to finish due to personal circumstances), you'll still have a subject degree that can be more valuable for finding a job than a Lib Studies degree.

Thanks for the advice! I hadn't considered that law schools wouldn't love this plan. I saw that the only requirement for the one I'm trying to attend was to "Have a Baccalaureate degree from a Regionally Accredited college." There aren't exactly Ivy League law schools here in Montana...

Why do you say going for a full 60 credits from UMPI instead of just the required 30? Would that not be enough graded courses?

If you have any knowledge of law school admissions in particular, do you think a good LSAT score would help mitigate uneasy feelings toward a degree with 90-113 ungraded credits? The median LSAT score for accepted students at the school I'm trying to attend is 153, and I've been scoring 165+ on all my practice LSATs.

One last question. I appreciate the advice on the BABA instead. Do you think the UMPI LA - Management degree would be useful at all in that context? I just personally can't stand Business classes and want to take as few possible.

Thank you so much!

Montana? I assume you plan on going to this school here:
https://www.ilrg.com/rankings/law/view/148

Tuition of $13k a year sounds like a good deal for law school.

I don't know what field of law you are interested in, but things such as estates, contract disputes, divorce, etc, help if you have some business knowledge.

[dfrecore]

The Big 3 all go by ACE credit recommendations for AP credit, rather than having an AP policy there. Not sure about UMPI though.

Here's the ACE recommendations for your exams:
AP English: Language & Composition 4/1/94 - 12/31/17 (so if you took it after 12/31/17, it's no longer ACE-recommended)
AP Psychology 4/1/94 - 11/30/23
AP Statistics 5/1/97 - 11/30/23
AP US History 4/1/94 - 11/30/23
AP World History 1/1/02 - 11/30/23

You're probably fine for all of these with the age you gave.

Second, if you already know where you want to go, and it's not a competitive school, then your best bet is probably a UMPI BLS degree. I wouldn't waste my time on a BABA if you don't want a business degree. That's silly. Nothing says a business degree is any better to get into law school than any other degree (and I've heard that an English degree is your best bet since you will be doing a LOT of writing). UMPI does have a English(ish) degree, but I don't think it will be that helpful for you.
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But if you do want a degree from EC, you are taking too many credits. You don't need 30cr of UL, you only need 24, as the Capstone and Cornerstone will be 6cr - delete 2 UL courses. Your 26cr for the CMAC will be used in the Free Electives area.

If you want to skip the UExcel exams, you could take a few more UL courses from Study.com, or else Coopersmith is a good option as well. Coopersmith is less hassle than a UExcel for sure, for roughly the same price, and a better chance of passing (their Psych courses in particular will work and many have taken them and brought them to EC).

[carrythenothing]

It could be different for YourPace but UMPI appears to follow the ACE recommendations: https://www.umpi.edu/offices/registrars-...placement/

• AP English Language & Composition: 6 credits (ENG 101 and ENG 121) for a score of 4 or higher, or 3 credits (ENG 101) for a score of 3
  
• AP Psychology: 3 credits (PSY 100) for a score of 3 or higher
  
• AP Statistics: 3 credits (MAT 101) for a score of 3 or higher
  
• AP US History: 6 credits (HTY 161 and HTY 162) for a score of 3 or higher
  
• AP World History: 6 credits (HTY 115 and HTY 116) for a score of 3 or higher
  

[bjcheung77]

Welcome to the board! We're missing a few pieces of info within your thread... You may want to provide us more details in regards to your budget, commitments, dedicated time you have to complete the degree, or when you would like to target a finish date. Have you looked at the other Big 3, PUG, UMPI, WGU, or more?

Good luck, have fun, take your time to read through the forum/wiki pages. There's plenty of info... If you need further assistance... Please provide more details for your current situation by answering the info I just mentioned. Further to that, you may want to inform us what subjects interest you, such as Psychology or more.

Last but not least, you may want to also search for your Top 3 Law schools in the state and out of state, so a total of 6 choices and list them here. You also want to note each admissions requirement so you will know what the minimum requirements are for all of them, you can then try to plan your Bachelors around those requirements. Create a spreadsheet and post that here along with your reply...

[rachel83az]

The more graded credits you have, the better your application will look. For a "no-name" Montana university, they might be okay with just the credits of your Major being graded, but they might not. I would contact them to find out if they have any "hidden" requirements that would make your application stronger if you met them.

It's entirely possible that they've simply never encountered a degree with mostly pass/fail/ACE credits on it and wouldn't know what to think if they saw one. They might then reject you out of hand because they don't know what else to do. Even WGU graduates encounter this from time to time, though there are also schools that will have no problems accepting WGU degrees.

If you can't stand business, how about History & Poli Sci? That would be slightly closer to a law degree, content-wise. Really, I would recommend any non-Liberal Studies BA that might interest you.