So new and So confused

[TRCYWLF]

Hi I have been reading for a while and first let me say thank you to all of you that go out of your way to help the newbies like me it is so very much appreciated!!!


Here is my situation:

My plan was always to go to nursing school. I tailored all my AA courses to fit the entrance requirements for nursing programs in the state of Florida. I received my AA this year with honors from a Florida state college with a GPA of 3.64. Recently I moved to Georgia due to circumstances out of my control, I will be here a minimum of 3 years. I originally figured I would just transfer to a Georgia nursing program and all would be fine- wrong. I didn't think of 2 very important things... 1. Residency...you need to be a GA resident for a minimum 12 months before you can attend school and qualify for in state tuition, this is a huge problem because nursing school is expensive enough paying out of state tuition nearly triples or quadruples the tuition. 2. prerequisites in GA are far different than FL, I would need 16 more credit hours to even apply to a program. So now I'm really questioning what to do.... I am 30 years old and I just want a degree already! Not to mention I am not working currently and I have saved enough to actually dedicate myself to just school for the next one hopefully two years and this situation is putting a huge damper on my plan I choose to pursue nursing either it will take me another 3 years on top of my AA due to the extra pre-reqs or 4 if I wait to gain residency.

So then I came across this board and all you wonderful people!

So my other interest has always been finance. But I am sure I want to pursue a masters if I go that route. If I choose one of the big three. TESC I'm thinking (open to advice on this one) what are my chances of getting into a competitive masters program if I test out of most of the courses to earn my bachelors? Will my GPA remain at 3.64 or will a masters program not consider a GPA earned while pursuing a AA if the bachelors was mainly tested out of? Can someone please offer some advice. I am hoping you can look at my courses I have already from my B&M school and maybe suggest another degree plan I haven't thought of...

Here is what I have so far:

CS131 N Fund of Computer Prog
IT338 N Web Design Author & Pub
CAT102 T Basic Computer Apps
ARTS111 T Art and Ideas I
FINC298 N Personal Financial Plan
ENC1101 T English I
MAT1033 T Interm Algebra
SPC1600 T Intro Oral Communicatio
PSY2012 T General Psychology
REL2300 T Religions of the World
PSY2012 T General Psychology
ENC1102 T Literature and Comp.
GEB2430 T Prin./Values in Bus
HUM2210 T Humanities I
MAC1105 T Coll Algebra
BSC1005 T Surv Bio Sci
OCE1001 T Introduction to Oceanography
STA2023 T Elem Statistics
DEP2004 T Developmental Psy.
MCB1010 T Microbiology
MCB1010L T Microbio Lab
BSC1085 T Hum Ant & Phys I
BSC1085L T Hum Anat Lab I
CHM1025 T Intro to Chemistry
CHM1025L T Intro Chem Rec
SYG2000 T Int Sociology
BSC1086 T Hum Ant & Phys II
BSC1086L T Hum Ant Lab II

C.L.E.P.
SPN1120 T Spanish Language
** CLEP **
SPN1120L T Spanish Language Lab
** CLEP **
SPN1121 T Spanish Language
** CLEP **
SPN1121L T Spanish Language Lab
** CLEP **
SPN2220 T Spanish Language
** CLEP **
SPN2220L T Spanish Language Lab
** CLEP **



Thank you so so much in advance!!

[Jonathan Whatley]

- Have you thought about teaching? Maybe science, maybe Spanish, maybe business, maybe something else.
- Have you thought about, close to finance but with some distinctives in training, job definitions, and certainly licensing for some roles, accounting? Enrolled agent tax practice?
- What are the new prerequisites you'd need? Could you meet any of them with CLEPs or other tests, or low-cost distance learning courses? We have good leads for some.
- Does that start in IT and web authoring indicate another interest?
- Any other allied health field interests?

[burbuja0512]

Hi and welcome!

I have an alternative suggestion. What if you used the credits you have to get your bachelors in business at one of the Big 3? You already have quite a few credits and if you're good at testing, you could probably finish a bachelors in the next 6-12 months.

Then, once you get your bachelors, go back to nursing school to get your RN. You would be a nurse with business sense and an MBA would probably help if you weren't totally sick of school at this point. But even without an MBA, you would have so many options!

The reason I'm making this suggestion is that I have seen many great jobs for people with some clinical experience + business degree. I sold medical software for years and all of the best jobs had this combination and I KNOW it was tough to find. (Some jobs went empty for months while they tried to find a candidate with this combination of experience) Most of these were 6 figure salaries or close to it with a pretty good career path.

The types of companies that hire people like this are huge.. I'm sure you could find something in the insurance and PBM world like an Express Scripts or Aetna. You could look at any sort of software or device company such as Amerisource Bergen, McKesson, Cerner, etc. Not to mention other large companies that support the health care industry such as home health, where you would not be in a direct patient care role, but in more of a decision-making capacity.

If you wanted to get into medical sales, it would be EASY. I don't recommend pharma sales any more because of all of the recent layoffs , but any of the companies I just mentioned always have a tough time finding sales reps that can understand what a clinician goes through, but also have business savvy and be able to sell. I took a pharmacy tech course just to help me with my clients, volunteered for a bit in a hospital pharmacy and had WAY more medical experience than any other sales rep I knew. ( and all I did at the hospital was stock shelves and fill carts) If you've got the personality for it, medical sales is fun and pays well.

Anyhow... that is just a suggestion, if finance is your dream than you should GO FOR IT. However, with the economy the way it is, I can honestly say that there are very few jobs that I have ever seen consistent demand for. The medical + business combo was something that I have seen be in demand for ALL businesses that support the healthcare industry with lots of flexibility in career options and high pay.

[Jonathan Whatley]

If I choose one of the big three. TESC I'm thinking (open to advice on this one)

Thomas Edison: State college. Large. Areas of special strength include human service programs with serious internships at your location, and emergency management. Good learner-designed major options. Hardliners on not issuing third associate's or bachelor's degrees.

Excelsior: Nonprofit private college with roots as a quasi-autonomous division of the state education system. Large. Areas of special strength include technology, and nursing, (but its entry program to nursing is only for an extremely limited population of people already in very close professions, like LPNs or PAs). The most open to issuing third, maybe even subsequent, associate's or bachelor's.

Charter Oak: State college. The small earnest liberal arts college of the big three. Areas of special strength include child development and paralegal studies. Requires you to take two courses with them, a cornerstone orientation towards the start of your enrolment with them and a capstone in your concentration (major) towards its end. Good learner-designed concentration options. Some popular highly professional subjects, including most management subdisciplines like accounting or finance, aren't offered as official concentrations. You'd have to take, say, business administration with an unofficial focus, or put together something through Individualized Studies. Historically uses the term concentration rather than major, with every degree notionally in General Studies, and some people and occasionally some employers or licensing boards or whatever might want a major. But lately they've been been using the form "concentration (major)" prominently and officially.

what are my chances of getting into a competitive masters program if I test out of most of the courses to earn my bachelors?

Unless it was extremely competitive, or you fell short on graded tests - many of your tests might be ECE tests from Excelsior, which are graded - I wouldn't worry.

If it was extremely competitive, they might also look down on your local public college in Georgia, who knows. Either way, their loss! :p

Will my GPA remain at 3.64 or will a masters program not consider a GPA earned while pursuing a AA if the bachelors was mainly tested out of?

They'd very likely look at a cumulative GPA incorporating both your associate's work and the new work, like ECEs, that was graded.

[burbuja0512]

Unless it was extremely competitive, or you fell short on graded tests - many of your tests might be ECE tests from Excelsior, which are graded - I wouldn't worry.

If it was extremely competitive, they might also look down on your local public college in Georgia, who knows. Either way, their loss! :p

:iagree:

For what it's worth, the MBA program I'm in was not easy to get into, but they didn't really care about my testing. However, I did contact them before I finished my BS and ask quite a few questions, including their CLEP/DSST policies. I felt like it was hard to get in (two essays, two recommendations, two interviews and a written exam) but they did not care about the tests. However, my recommendation would be to identify two to three programs that you like and check with each of them well before you graduate to make sure that there won't be any unexpected surprises.