Need feedback on Upper Division Arts & Science Courses

[joel66]

Need to get some feedback on taking seven upper division Arts & Science courses to complete my B.S. in Liberal Arts with Excelsior College. At the moment, I'm studying for the U.S. History I and II CLEP tests. I'm thinking of doing U.S. History I, then Civil War & Reconstruction, then taking U.S. History II, then follow the rest of the 6 upper division courses.

Out of curiosity, what courses you see below in order of easiest to hardest to get completed for the remaining 6 (18 units), if I do U.S History I, Civil War & Construction, then U.S. History II?

Excelsior Exams
American Dream 6U
Ethics: Theory & Practice 3U
Religions of the World 3U
Foundations of Gerontology 3U
Juvenile Delinquency 3U
Organizational Behavior 3U
World Conflicts Since 1900 3U
World Population 3U

DANTES Exams
Money and Banking 3U
Rise and Fall of the Soviet Union 3U

As for U.S. History I, I'm doing the following at the moment for my studying plan:

1. Videos 1 to 12 "A Biography of America"
2. Read Spark Notes 101 U.S History I
3. Read Chapter 1 of Reconstruction in Spark Notes 101 U.S. History II
4. watched Videos 1 to 12 again of "A Biography of America"
5. Reading again Spark Notes 101 U.S. History I
6. Read Chapter 1 of Reconstruction "A Biography of America"
***** done the above in the past 8 days *****

7. Planning on taking test 1 on REA's U.S. History I exam
8. Then read the study guide for REA's U.S. History
9. Take test 2 on REA's U.S. History exam
10. Review REA's Study guide again for those chapters I need to work on
11. Take Instant Cert practice test
12. Take the final (3rd exam) on REA's study guide

NOTE: Based on the above, I anticipate it will take approx. 3 weeks to complete. The reason for doing so much studying because I'm thinking of studying for Civil War & Reconstruction in two weeks after U.S. History I. I'm hoping to start reading last two chapters of U.S. History I and first chapter of U.S. History 2 sparknotes 101, then read the sparknotes Civil War & Reconstruction, as well as Instant cert. I also have the Civil War videos of Ken Burns to watch as well.

Once I complete U.S. History II following the same type of format as steps 1 to 12 above, I might consider the American Dream. Not sure about the essay questions. I'm hoping to use my studying for U.S. History I, II, and Civil War & Recon to be a springboard to other exams.

[CDM]

I'm not going to be much help here, but, Organizational Behavior is one of the easiest CLEPs. As for the DANTEs, unless you're good in the math department - I wouldn't mess with the Money and Banking. It's supposed to be really hard.

Sorry I can't help with anything else!

[cookderosa]

Need to get some feedback on taking seven upper division Arts & Science courses to complete my B.S. in Liberal Arts with Excelsior College. At the moment, I'm studying for the U.S. History I and II CLEP tests. I'm thinking of doing U.S. History I, then Civil War & Reconstruction, then taking U.S. History II, then follow the rest of the 6 upper division courses.

Out of curiosity, what courses you see below in order of easiest to hardest to get completed for the remaining 6 (18 units), if I do U.S History I, Civil War & Construction, then U.S. History II?

Excelsior Exams
American Dream 6U
Ethics: Theory & Practice 3U
Religions of the World 3U
Foundations of Gerontology 3U
Juvenile Delinquency 3U
Organizational Behavior 3U
World Conflicts Since 1900 3U
World Population 3U

DANTES Exams
Money and Banking 3U
Rise and Fall of the Soviet Union 3U

As for U.S. History I, I'm doing the following at the moment for my studying plan:

1. Videos 1 to 12 "A Biography of America"
2. Read Spark Notes 101 U.S History I
3. Read Chapter 1 of Reconstruction in Spark Notes 101 U.S. History II
4. watched Videos 1 to 12 again of "A Biography of America"
5. Reading again Spark Notes 101 U.S. History I
6. Read Chapter 1 of Reconstruction "A Biography of America"
***** done the above in the past 8 days *****

7. Planning on taking test 1 on REA's U.S. History I exam
8. Then read the study guide for REA's U.S. History
9. Take test 2 on REA's U.S. History exam
10. Review REA's Study guide again for those chapters I need to work on
11. Take Instant Cert practice test
12. Take the final (3rd exam) on REA's study guide

NOTE: Based on the above, I anticipate it will take approx. 3 weeks to complete. The reason for doing so much studying because I'm thinking of studying for Civil War & Reconstruction in two weeks after U.S. History I. I'm hoping to start reading last two chapters of U.S. History I and first chapter of U.S. History 2 sparknotes 101, then read the sparknotes Civil War & Reconstruction, as well as Instant cert. I also have the Civil War videos of Ken Burns to watch as well.

Once I complete U.S. History II following the same type of format as steps 1 to 12 above, I might consider the American Dream. Not sure about the essay questions. I'm hoping to use my studying for U.S. History I, II, and Civil War & Recon to be a springboard to other exams.

>>


I am not an EC student thus have not taken the EC exams. I would like to encourage you in your history study. The order that you are taking yours (US 1, civil war, US 2) is the order I used and I found that the order worked well. I used REA for US 1 and think it is excellent. Your study plans for the other exams look very complete. Is there any need for you to have 6 more lower division social science/history credits? I took the CLEP Social Science and History a few days after doing the sequence you are doing. With only an additional 2 days of review (I used REA social sciences and history) Granted, last year I took intro psych and intro soc, so there is a some review- but it was so very general that I don't think anyone who had completed the tests individually would have any trouble at all.

[joel66]

>>
I am not an EC student thus have not taken the EC exams. I would like to encourage you in your history study. The order that you are taking yours (US 1, civil war, US 2) is the order I used and I found that the order worked well. I used REA for US 1 and think it is excellent. Your study plans for the other exams look very complete. Is there any need for you to have 6 more lower division social science/history credits? I took the CLEP Social Science and History a few days after doing the sequence you are doing. With only an additional 2 days of review (I used REA social sciences and history) Granted, last year I took intro psych and intro soc, so there is a some review- but it was so very general that I don't think anyone who had completed the tests individually would have any trouble at all.

At the moment, I'm taking English Composition and English Prose & Interpretation at the local college, in addition to studying for the CLEP/DANTES/ECE exams.

Once I complete U.S. History I, II, and Civil War & Reconstruction, I will have 6 Upper Division and 1 lower division classes left to graduate. I'm still undecided on the 1 lower division class. At first, I was thinking of taking English Advanced Composition and Critical Thinking. The more I'm reading about ECE's American Dream, I'm starting to think that "American Literature" might benefit me better because it deals with American literature from the pre-colonial period to the Civil War, which is part of American Dream.

I'm hoping to start studying for the LSAT once I complete my degree. I was told to take classes that requires a lot of reading, so I can improve my reading comprehension. I was advised by some of the LSAT instructors that it's easier for them to teach Logical and Analytical Reasoning, but they noticed students have a tougher time grasping the Reading Comprehension section.

[yutzyj]

Out of curiosity, what courses you see below in order of easiest to hardest to get completed for the remaining 6 (18 units), if I do U.S History I, Civil War & Construction, then U.S. History II?

Excelsior Exams
American Dream 6U
Ethics: Theory & Practice 3U
Religions of the World 3U
Foundations of Gerontology 3U
Juvenile Delinquency 3U
Organizational Behavior 3U
World Conflicts Since 1900 3U
World Population 3U

DANTES Exams
Money and Banking 3U
Rise and Fall of the Soviet Union 3U

I have taken Ethics: Theory&Prac, Found of Ger, and Org Beh. My primary study source was InstantCert. I scored an A on Ger and B's on the others. As for Money and Banking, I would recommend taking it after Macro and Micro. I'm sure some people have tackled it solo and passed but it would be easier after the other two. Good luck to you and be sure and let us know what you picked and how you did.

[cookderosa]

[QUOTE=joel66]At the moment, I'm taking English Composition and English Prose & Interpretation at the local college, in addition to studying for the CLEP/DANTES/ECE exams.

Once I complete U.S. History I, II, and Civil War & Reconstruction, I will have 6 Upper Division and 1 lower division classes left to graduate. I'm still undecided on the 1 lower division class. At first, I was thinking of taking English Advanced Composition and Critical Thinking. The more I'm reading about ECE's American Dream, I'm starting to think that "American Literature" might benefit me better because it deals with American literature from the pre-colonial period to the Civil War, which is part of American Dream.
>>


I understand! I am taking 18 credits right now in addition to my CLEP study. That's why I suggested the SS&H CLEP, you probably could pass it without any additional study. I won't press it, Thomas Edison awards 6 credits, I don't know what EC would award.
Do you mean American Literature CLEP or ECE? CLEP doesn't stop at the Civil War, the test covers colonial to present day. I am studying for that now; Not sure about ECE's American Lit.

[joel66]

They would also accept 6 units. Both "English Advanced Composition and Critical Thinking" and "American Literature" would be regular classes. Depending on the schedule, it would be either the local community college, or online with LSU or BYU's independent study. Not unless there is another school that charges less than $210 for the class.

The reason why I'm thinking "American Literature" because when reviewing the ECE's description of "American Dream" it mentions it also deals with literature. I'm still undecided and thinking that it would lake longer than I want to study for that test. I might just do a quick math (algebra) to replace my old C from 20 years ago, then take Statistics for the additional lower division. Then again, the Social Studies looks interesting. decisions decisions /sigh lol

[ImustStudy]

>>


I am not an EC student thus have not taken the EC exams. I would like to encourage you in your history study.

Just a note cookderosa, for any others who are interested many, many, many colleges and universities accept EC exams for credit and upper division credit I believe. So even those who are not EC students can still take the EC exams for credit at their own schools.

Anywhone who knows more than me please correct me if I am misinformed.

[cookderosa]

Just a note cookderosa, for any others who are interested many, many, many colleges and universities accept EC exams for credit and upper division credit I believe. So even those who are not EC students can still take the EC exams for credit at their own schools.

Anywhone who knows more than me please correct me if I am misinformed.

>>

I think you are right, but when you compare the cost of an ECE to a DSST, the ECE breaks my budget. :eek: I pay $80 total for a CLEP or DSST, and ECEs are $200 before testing center fees. I can't see the advantage of ECE when a DSST will fit the degree plan. (of course if you don't have a DSST that fits, you have to do what you have to!)

[Librevore]

Hi Joel,

Don't know if you are still looking for input on these courses but here's my experience if you are. I've taken two of the exams you listed: ECE Ethics and ECE Foundations of Gerontology. Both went really well (an A and a B) using IC and the advice on this forum of previous posters.

Onward and upward!