Transcript Review - Help, which of the big 3?

[Max Droid]

Jennifer, when you said that 12 can come from FEMA is that the case for the Business Admin Mgmt @ TESC? I'll have to search the forums to learn about this FEMA option. I paid the registration fee to TESC today and I also requested transcripts from all 3 of my previous CC's so hopefully I have some confirmation of what is needed in the coming weeks. Thanks!

Only 6 FEMA credits count towards BSBA at TESC as free electives.

I agree with the members that believe you can finish your A.A. plus B.A. goals within a year. Take for instance this...

http://www.degreeforum.net/general-educa...-days.html

From personal experience, I have completed 24 credits this year (since Jan 1st) through ALEKS, Straighterline, and my CC. I will be taking a DSST exam tomorrow, and (if I pass) that's another 3 credits added. At the end of the month my community college courses end so I will be adding another 12 credits to my yearly total. That should put me at about 39 credits earned in 5 months, thats considered snail's pace around here

So there is no doubt that with the guidance provided on this forum you can be done in a year or less.

[sanantone]

You can get a lot of credits cheaply by doing PLAs through Learning Counts.
LearningCounts | College Credit for What You Already Know

If you're looking to get into a competitive MBA program or any MBA program that is ACBSP or AACSB accredited, you'll have to have several prerequisites. I've seen some MBA programs that have as many as 10 prerequisites. You might as well complete a business administration degree and not have to worry about them. TESC has the Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with a specialization in Computer Information Systems and Excelsior has the Bachelor of Science in Business (Management Information Systems).

[mrs.b]

You can absolutely complete 60+ credits in a year, with family and job and the rest. Many here have done it. I completed 63 in 15 months, and that was with 33 of the total 63 in full-course form which, in retrospect, was not a good idea with such an aggressive timeline. If I'd swapped those from course to CBE, it would've breezed by and been done in far less than 12 months.

When starting down this road, it is difficult to see the difference of time investment required between a course which we're all mostly familiar, and a test-out option. Will you cover the same material? Yes. You will not waste time writing lengthy papers simply to drive home a term or concept though, because you already have the business experience to build upon. All you'll be doing for most of the courses is reading through the material, applying the new terminology to the concepts you're already familiar with (and if you've worked in a business environment as your history implies, it'll come fairly easy), drill yourself on the terminology and a few of the specific names that are highlighted, and move on. In courses, so much time is wasted on drilling the minute details because courses are designed for people who are seeing that material for the first time. You haven't - you've lived it - so you just need to refresh your memory on what terms apply to your existing experience. For material you're not familiar with, the same concept applies only you'll spend a bit more time drilling yourself on those new concepts, and rather than move at the pace of a course design, you'll spend as much or as little time as you need to "get it." In some cases, you'll move much faster than a course design would offer, and in some cases you'll need to slow down and take more time than a course would if it's foreign to you. Either way, if you approach it as an overall learning experience minus the fluff to fill out 12-weeks as a course does, you'll walk away with a stronger understanding in less time. That is the difference between courses and CBEs. They can and typically are done in much less time than a course. You can also walk away with more knowledge than you otherwise would from a course, because you'll study and focus on ALL the material, not just the highlighted bits a course mentor and course design finds relevant.

Will it be easy? No, few good things in life come easy. I'd say the bulk of the people on this forum, though, have accomplished the same with families (I have a husband and special needs child, and extended family that needed help) and jobs (I worked 50+ hours a week with a number of business trips during that 15 months). It's been done and continues to be done every day by others, so when the rough times come - and they will - reach out for encouragement and shoulders because there are a lot to lean on; it's what this forum does best. It is the faster and cheaper of the higher education roads, but it is not a shortcut by any means if you approach it as a learning experience and not just a checkbox on a resume or bucket list. And you have one of those four kiddos coming up on college. If you get this learning curve down pat, you can help her - and her siblings later - save time and money by replicating something similar so she can have a competitive advantage over her peers by entering the job market with less debt earlier than 4+ years by trimming down a few of those requirements. A number of the members here who are not juggling families and jobs are young teens still in high school who will enter college with a considerable number of credits under their belts. That's something any parent could wish for their children, and something you could help her accomplish.

[andrewtn]

You can get a lot of credits cheaply by doing PLAs through Learning Counts.
LearningCounts | College Credit for What You Already Know

This sounds like its worth investigating though I am a bit consider what mrs.b said back on page 1 of this thread. I think I also read something about this in the wiki.

Most schools charge per-credit awarded for PLA (I know TESC does, not enough experience with the other two to say for certain), so you will pay the same for a PLA credit award as you will for a full course, whereas a CBE option (CLEP, DSST, ECE, TECEP, etc) are often less than $100 all-in for 3-12 credits depending on the exam.

[sanantone]

This sounds like its worth investigating though I am a bit consider what mrs.b said back on page 1 of this thread. I think I also read something about this in the wiki.

TESC charges for their PLA courses. Learning Counts credit transfers like transfer credit. They used to put their credits on an ACE transcript, but now they are going through NCCRS.

[chiquitacobbe]

TESC charges for their PLA courses. Learning Counts credit transfers like transfer credit. They used to put their credits on an ACE transcript, but now they are going through NCCRS.

So if I did this through Learning Counts (for much cheaper than TESC) then transfer it to NCCRS (somehow) then TESC will accept it?

[andrewtn]

Would someone be so kind as to point me in the right direction as to the 6 FEMA credits that count towards BSBA at TESC as free electives? If these are free and online I might try and tackle them this weekend. Worst case I waste my time if for some reason I end up not needing them but if there free I would like to go ahead and start making some progress ASAP if I'm going to pull this degree off in 12 months.

I found this link from TESC in another thread but I'm kind of lost as to where to go to start and what exactly to take.
http://www.tesc.edu/degree-completion/do...review.pdf

Here is the FEMA website but help, where to I go next?
National Preparedness Directorate National Training and Education Portal

This all seems like it's clear to the rest of you but I've been hit with a lot of information over the past couple days and I'm still trying to get and handle on things. I appreciate the help from everyone!

[sanantone]

So if I did this through Learning Counts (for much cheaper than TESC) then transfer it to NCCRS (somehow) then TESC will accept it?

I don't think anyone on this forum has used Learning Counts with TESC. If they have, they haven't said anything. The problem with Learning Counts is that it's probably impossible to know ahead of time if TESC will accept the credit and how it will apply. TESC is not very keen on accepting ACE and NCCRS recommendations at face value. I think you've already experienced that with the TEEX courses. ACE says IT for all of them and TESC gives management credit for one of them. They even tried to give law credit for another one. Other colleges have a direct partnership with Learning Counts. My local community colleges accept Learning Counts credit recommendations at face value.

[chiquitacobbe]

I don't think anyone on this forum has used Learning Counts with TESC. If they have, they haven't said anything. The problem with Learning Counts is that it's probably impossible to know ahead of time if TESC will accept the credit and how it will apply. TESC is not very keen on accepting ACE and NCCRS recommendations at face value. I think you've already experienced that with the TEEX courses. ACE says IT for all of them and TESC gives management credit for one of them. They even tried to give law credit for another one. Other colleges have a direct partnership with Learning Counts. My local community colleges accept Learning Counts credit recommendations at face value.

I remember all too well.

[mrs.b]

Would someone be so kind as to point me in the right direction as to the 6 FEMA credits that count towards BSBA at TESC as free electives? If these are free and online I might try and tackle them this weekend. Worst case I waste my time if for some reason I end up not needing them but if there free I would like to go ahead and start making some progress ASAP if I'm going to pull this degree off in 12 months.

I found this link from TESC in another thread but I'm kind of lost as to where to go to start and what exactly to take.
http://www.tesc.edu/degree-completion/do...review.pdf

Here is the FEMA website but help, where to I go next?
National Preparedness Directorate National Training and Education Portal

This all seems like it's clear to the rest of you but I've been hit with a lot of information over the past couple days and I'm still trying to get and handle on things. I appreciate the help from everyone!

Print out the list of TESC-approved courses in that pdf, then go here: https://training.fema.gov/IS/ceus.aspx
Match the IS number exactly to the course listed on FEMA's Emergency Management Institute. If looking at a BSBA, take a look at the Professional Development Series (on the FEMA EMI site, it's one of the links on the right in the header). Most, if not all of those courses are credit-worthy (or were when I did them about this time last year), and when you complete all of that series, you get a spiffy little certificate you can list seperately on your resume.

Once you pick the course(s) you want, click the specific course descrption, and off to the right is a "Take This Course" link that'll take you to either a pdf book, or an interactive website. Go through the material until you're cozy with it. Then click the "Take the Final Exam Online" link, and take the exam. You'll get your results within 24-hours (usually a few minutes later but seems to randomly take longer), but as soon as you finish one, move on to the next without waiting. On the off chance you fail one, go back through the material and take the final again; you can take it as often as you need. Once you've got 6+ credit-worthy FEMA courses that TESC's sheet acknowledges are at least a credit each, go back to the FEMA EMI main page and off to the right is a link to request a transcript. Do that, and have it sent to TESC, and your free electives will be done!