Political Science Questions

[mattack91]

Hi guys. As with many others, I've been lurking around this website for a while, trying to get through the massive amount of knowledge by so many people. Anyways, I'm trying to work out a good template for a BA in Political Science. As it seems from responses I've seen and a lack of a template, not many people tend to take this route, but its the major I'm pretty much set on, so hopefully all works out.

I'm trying my best to keep the number of classes down as close to zero as possible (For both financial and time constraint issues; I'm working two jobs), but as it seems, this is one of those majors that cannot be tested out completely. Anyways, this is as far as I have (For the major specifically, not the General Education requirements).

AREA OF STUDY: Political Science

American National Government:

CLEP Exam "American Government" 3 Credits

Political Theory or Political Process:

TECEP Exam "Introduction to Political Science" 3 Credits

Comparitive Governments:

????

International Relations:

????

Research Methods:

DSST Exam "Principles of Statistics" 3 Credits

Political Science Electives:

DSST Exam "Rise and Fall of the Soviet Union" 3 Credits
DSST Exam "Introduction to the Modern Middle East" 3 Credits
DSST Exam "History of the Vietnam War" 3 Credits
TECEP Exam "Labor Relations/Collective Bargaining" 3 Credits
TECEP Exam "Community Health" 3 Credits
TECEP Exam "Enviornment and Humanity" 3 Credits


I'm confident with those that at least I can test out of a majority of this degree, which is something that was pretty critical for me. Does anybody have any ideas on what to do with Comparative Government or with International Relations? I haven't been able to come up with anything suitable just yet.

Thanks guys for all the information, both past and future. Don't I know that a good plan is the first key to success.

[Prloko]

Penn State's World Campus has a poly sci degree through their University Park campus. Penn State accepts 60 Clep/DSST credits (mostly lower level). The remaining 60 you will have to get through online courses or transfer, but it's a respectable school.

[IrishJohn]

Penn State's World Campus has a poly sci degree through their University Park campus. Penn State accepts 60 Clep/DSST credits (mostly lower level). The remaining 60 you will have to get through online courses or transfer, but it's a respectable school.

Browsing through their website Penn State doesn't accept a lot of the credits by exam that the OP would need for a PoliSci degree.

Penn State | Transferring Credits, Military Credit, CLEP & DSST Testing

[Prloko]

Browsing through their website Penn State doesn't accept a lot of the credits by exam that the OP would need for a PoliSci degree.

Penn State | Transferring Credits, Military Credit, CLEP & DSST Testing

Yes, they accept CLEP/DSST for mostly lower level courses. I have mapped out my own degree plan for Poly Sci, but it requires the courses to be taken through PSU, which is like you said, not what the OP is trying to accomplish. I merely offered up the info in case someone stumbles on the thread looking for a Poly Sci degree.

[drewthedude]

I'm about to graduate from TESC with a PoliSci BA and I can tell you it's a bit trickier than it would seem. First, "Introduction to Political Science" does not cover the Political Theory requirement, and most of the elective DSST choices you listed would probably fall under History credits, rather than PoliSci. This is one of those fields that you really want to take the coursework for most major requirements to learn the material, then you can just test out of GEN-EDS if you must, to save time. Have you looked into a Social Sciences BA? This is very close to Political Science but is much more flexible as far as testing out.
My degree was pretty much completed as follows:
-Took about 10 PoliSci courses including Statistics through Ashford University
-Took Macroeconomics & American Govt (CLEP) to fulfill those two requirements
-Took a bunch of CLEPs and one DSST to fulfill gen-ed requirements
-Took Political Theory through AMU (this class was kind of hard to find - Ashford didn't offer it)
-Used a bunch of military credits for free electives

If you're set on this degree you pretty much will have to accept the need to take actual courses for the majority of your major. Plus, if it's a field you enjoy, you won't regret it because there's so much research and writing required, which significantly enhances your knowledge. Otherwise you can major in Social Sciences or History, and test out of most if not all requirements.

[sanantone]

The TECEPs you listed under political science electives don't exist. These are the current tests offered.

Thomas Edison State College: Course Offerings

As was said above, the DSSTs you listed under the area of study electives are history courses.

[dcan]

Drew, can you put together a degree plan showing how you went through it? I'd like to put this on the wiki. I am also very interested in poli-sci myself but don't think it will fit in as a second degree right now. May just be the case I buy the books for cheap and read on my own.

[drewthedude]

Drew, can you put together a degree plan showing how you went through it? I'd like to put this on the wiki. I am also very interested in poli-sci myself but don't think it will fit in as a second degree right now. May just be the case I buy the books for cheap and read on my own.

Sure Dcan, I'd be glad to - give me a few days and I'll type out my plan. It was fairly straightforward.

[soliloquy]

Drewthedude, did you ever type out a plan? If so, where did it go? Thanks!

[Westerner]

Does anybody have any ideas on what to do with Comparative Government or with International Relations? I haven't been able to come up with anything suitable just yet.

Just a thought, but would ECE "World Conflicts Since 1900" work for the International Relations slot? If not, TESC has an "International Relations" course.