Starting Almost From Scratch

[davewill]

I would recommend that you go ahead and apply to TESU. The application fee isn't much, and it takes a good month for them to get your transcripts and generate an evaluation. Apply to all of the Big 3, if the app fees aren't a big deal. Sometimes people get surprised by what one of them will accept in transfer.

A lot of folks here try really hard to avoid the capstone course to make the degree cheaper and faster. In your case, I would just bite the bullet, and plan on taking it for three reasons. First, you'll probably want a GPA, so you'll have to take some actual courses anyway. Second, the experience of writing the capstone will help with work in your Masters program, especially if you end up doing a thesis. Finally, it gives you more flexibility in choosing your degree program.

[jblackhawk]

Do you mean I should apply soon to all three or a little ways down the line after I start accumulating these alternative credits?

[dfrecore]

Do you mean I should apply soon to all three or a little ways down the line after I start accumulating these alternative credits?

IMHO, you have so few credits, that you should go ahead and start earning credits. Even if you get all 21 towards your degree, you still know that they won't fulfill most of the GE or any of the Business requirements (except that one Marketing course, which would be an Area of Study elective). Paying the $75 now is a waste of money.

Again, that's my opinion, it would be a different story if you had 60 or 75 credits and needed to know where they were going to fall so you didn't duplicate any credits. With yours, we know they don't fulfill any specific requirements.

[jblackhawk]

First, my GPA, with an academic scholarship no less, was 1.98 my first year of college. On just 7 classes - because I got W's for the other 3. So don't feel bad about your GPA. Luckily, I figured out that while I wasn't crazy about college, I did enjoy something else - WORKING! Sounds like you figured that out as well.

I only really know TESU well enough to give you advice there, so keep that in mind.

The BSBA probably could certainly work in the meantime, it just doesn't leave a lot of room for those psych courses you'd probably want to take. But it's still doable for you. You can always get a quick (relative I'm sure) BSBA, then get a second degree with the BA in SocSci. Basically at that point, you would only need to take 24cr in your AOS. It was tricky to figure this one out, but I did it (ok, so I'm a spreadsheet dork!).

I figured yours out a little differently than others; first I planned your BSBA. I did all the free/cheap stuff first (Insurance Ethics, Kaplan PLA, Saylor & ALEKS), and then planned 8 TECEP's for residency. THEN, instead of other cheap courses or using SL to maximum effect, I used UExcel courses that would cost $145 to replace courses you were already going to pay 100+ for anyway. To get you some of the grades you might need for grad school (33cr). I came up with a cost of $3500.

I figured out where all of the courses would transfer to in the new plan, and that left you with exactly 8 courses to take for the 2nd Degree (you have to take 24cr in your Area of Study AFTER your degree conferral). So, after you finished with your BSBA in Gen Management at TESU, you couldn't start taking the additional courses until after graduation. At that point, you could take 7 additional UExcel's, for $1500, and then the Capstone for another $1500 (and another 24cr with grades). Kind of crazy that the second degree (24cr) costs almost as much as the first degree (110cr), but that capstone is a killer.

The other thing that might be helpful after getting your TESU BSBA (if you go that route) is to then switch over to Excelsior to get the 2nd degree instead. I'm not sure how it works there, but I'd it couldn't hurt to look at that as another option, since you'd have the UExcel exams there. It might look better to get that 2nd degree from another college. Also, by that point, they might have the testing out option for the capstone, which could make it a lot less expensive to go there (I've heard they're going to do that).

Anyway, getting your BSBA is not a bad plan, since it might take a while to finish up the BALS afterwards, and then go through a Masters program. You might want to save up some money to get through it, and having a degree that could move your career forward a little is definitely a good way to get there.

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How awesome are you? Thank you!! That looks like a great plan.
I am also a spreadsheet lover!! I already have one going for college comparisons, among other things...

If I were to go straight to starting off with BALS instead, do you think that would take longer than starting off on the BSBA path? It seems the MFT program at NCU doesn't have any specific undergrad reqs.

[sanantone]

For grades at a reasonable price, I recommend Capella Flexpath or Patten University. They both have competency-based programs in psychology. They're self-paced, and you pay a flat rate by term regardless of how many credits you complete. This can save you a lot of money if you work fast.

The second best option, in my opinion, is completing a bachelor's in psych or social science at TESU, COSC, or Excelsior. TESU will probably be cheaper. Some grad programs in psych, counseling, or therapy will require intro to psych, statistics, research methods, developmental/lifespan psychology, and/or abnormal psychology as prerequisites. Even though TESU does not give grades for transfer credits, you can still generate grades on an Excelsior transcript whenever you take Uexcels to transfer to TESU.

The reason why I recommend social science over liberal studies is because human resources departments know what social science is and know it's applicable to CJ and social service jobs if you took mostly psych, sociology, and/or CJ courses. I've even seen jobs in this field specifically list social and behavioral science as preferred degrees. A liberal studies/arts degree could be anything and is more likely to be filtered out without a second look. This is something to keep in mind if you want to start working in the field before or while completing your master's. I currently use my BA in social science to work as a substance abuse counselor, and it's gotten me interviews for probation and parole officer positions. There's really no reason to choose liberal studies over soc sci. Soc sci is a very test-friendly degree.

Even if your state doesn't require it, I recommend at least attempting to look for programs with COAMFTE accreditation. I can't remember if NCU has this, but they're really expensive.

Edit: They have it, but they're still expensive.

[jblackhawk]

For grades at a reasonable price, I recommend Capella Flexpath or Patten University. They both have competency-based programs in psychology. They're self-paced, and you pay a flat rate by term regardless of how many credits you complete. This can save you a lot of money if you work fast.

The second best option, in my opinion, is completing a bachelor's in psych or social science at TESU, COSC, or Excelsior. TESU will probably be cheaper. Some grad programs in psych, counseling, or therapy will require intro to psych, statistics, research methods, developmental/lifespan psychology, and/or abnormal psychology as prerequisites. Even though TESU does not give grades for transfer credits, you can still generate grades on an Excelsior transcript whenever you take Uexcels to transfer to TESU.

The reason why I recommend social science over liberal studies is because human resources departments know what social science is and know it's applicable to CJ and social service jobs if you took mostly psych, sociology, and/or CJ courses. I've even seen jobs in this field specifically list social and behavioral science as preferred degrees. A liberal studies/arts degree could be anything and is more likely to be filtered out without a second look. This is something to keep in mind if you want to start working in the field before or while completing your master's. I currently use my BA in social science to work as a substance abuse counselor, and it's gotten me interviews for probation and parole officer positions.

Even if your state doesn't require it, I recommend at least attempting to look for programs with COAMFTE accreditation. I can't remember if NCU has this, but they're really expensive.

Edit: They have it, but they're still expensive.

Thank you for the advice. I have been talking to Capella but in order to get on FlexPath I need to have 45 credits and raise my GPA so maybe that is an option down the road as I don't really want to go on their traditional program at this point. As far as online grad programs accredited by COAMFTE are only with Capella and NCU (as of now)... NCU doesn't look to have any other requirements to it's masters program other than a bachelors from an accredited institution but I am inquiring directly to confirm. I will definitely take your advice into consideration as it does provide a whole different perspective. It is really helpful to hear everyone's opinions.

[dfrecore]

_______________________________________________________
How awesome are you? Thank you!! That looks like a great plan.
I am also a spreadsheet lover!! I already have one going for college comparisons, among other things...

If I were to go straight to starting off with BALS instead, do you think that would take longer than starting off on the BSBA path? It seems the MFT program at NCU doesn't have any specific undergrad reqs.

I think that if you did the BALS, it would be exactly the same speed at which you could do the BSBA, except that you would have to take the Capstone as an actual course, which would add a couple of months. On the other hand, you have much more flexibility to take courses you're good at, which might speed things up. So it's probably a wash.

As for Sanantone's recommendation that you do the BA in SocSci, the degree I did for the BALS actually IS a BA in SocSci - since all of the courses in the Area of Study are COM, PSY & SOC. So definitely switch since she knows more about this than I do.

If you do decide not to go ahead with the BSBA, with the flexibility in there, I would suggest that you rework the courses to get them more towards what you really want to take. But, still consider the UExcel's for grades, and make sure you plan in the 7 TECEP's. Other than that, you are free to make use of whatever resources you want to get those credits.

If your ultimate goal is to get the MA, then I think I would go ahead and just get that. Your lack of a degree in business hasn't stopped you so far, no reason to think you couldn't continue on as you are while pursuing your dream.

Good luck!

[jblackhawk]

I think that if you did the BALS, it would be exactly the same speed at which you could do the BSBA, except that you would have to take the Capstone as an actual course, which would add a couple of months. On the other hand, you have much more flexibility to take courses you're good at, which might speed things up. So it's probably a wash.

As for Sanantone's recommendation that you do the BA in SocSci, the degree I did for the BALS actually IS a BA in SocSci - since all of the courses in the Area of Study are COM, PSY & SOC. So definitely switch since she knows more about this than I do.

If you do decide not to go ahead with the BSBA, with the flexibility in there, I would suggest that you rework the courses to get them more towards what you really want to take. But, still consider the UExcel's for grades, and make sure you plan in the 7 TECEP's. Other than that, you are free to make use of whatever resources you want to get those credits.

If your ultimate goal is to get the MA, then I think I would go ahead and just get that. Your lack of a degree in business hasn't stopped you so far, no reason to think you couldn't continue on as you are while pursuing your dream.
That is very true and part of my thought process!

Good luck!

All such excellent advice and I am so thankful for your time!!! Thank you!

[jblackhawk]

I think that if you did the BALS, it would be exactly the same speed at which you could do the BSBA, except that you would have to take the Capstone as an actual course, which would add a couple of months. On the other hand, you have much more flexibility to take courses you're good at, which might speed things up. So it's probably a wash.

As for Sanantone's recommendation that you do the BA in SocSci, the degree I did for the BALS actually IS a BA in SocSci - since all of the courses in the Area of Study are COM, PSY & SOC. So definitely switch since she knows more about this than I do.

If you do decide not to go ahead with the BSBA, with the flexibility in there, I would suggest that you rework the courses to get them more towards what you really want to take. But, still consider the UExcel's for grades, and make sure you plan in the 7 TECEP's. Other than that, you are free to make use of whatever resources you want to get those credits.

If your ultimate goal is to get the MA, then I think I would go ahead and just get that. Your lack of a degree in business hasn't stopped you so far, no reason to think you couldn't continue on as you are while pursuing your dream.

Good luck!

Hi! I spent some time playing around with BSBA Plan to try to get more courses in Social Sciences / Humanities as they would be more interesting to me than Political courses, hopefully be easier and would be applicable to the knowledge going in the direction of my Masters plan. (I understand you made the choices based on a low cost degree solution.) I also changed the BSBA from General to Marketing as I feel that I will be able to spend less time studying on that area. I have plenty of marketing experience which will be very helpful. And maybe with my Social Science / Humanities edits it either alleviates the step towards a second degree in BALS OR gets me even closer to obtaining it? Or did I just mess the whole plan up???

It looks like I can't attach the file so is there another way I can send your spreadsheet with my edits back to you?

Also, yay, I completed the free credits on Ethics and Kaplan today.

Thanks again!

[dfrecore]

To attach your spreadsheet, click on Reply, then choose "Go Advanced" below the reply window, then scroll down to "Manage Attachments", then "Add Files", then "Select File", then choose the file, then choose "Upload Files", then when it's uploaded, you're done.

Hopefully that helps.

Ok, so question about your plan: so you're getting the BSBA in Marketing instead of the BA in SocSci? I just ask because you're making it sound like you were trying to incorporate the SocSci courses into that degree. Or were you still thinking about getting the BA in SocSci as a 2nd degree? Kind of confused.

Ok, attach your degree plan so I can see it, and I'll tell you what I think.