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Excelsior BS Biology roadmap help? - domiblack - 08-11-2011

Hi Forum,

I was looking to start journey towards my goal in obtaining a BS biology degree by 2012. I currently have 38 credits that i've gained through community college courses and 1 college algebra course through aleks.com. I don't even know where to start as far as constructing a roadmap and the difference between upper level and lower level courses. Just to give you guys an idea of my curriculum, Ive listed the classes ive taken below :

EGL-1010 Comp I: Expository Writing (3)
PSY-1010 General Psychology (3)
BIO-2050 Human Anatomy & Physiology (4)
MAT-1350 College Algebra (3)
SOC-1010 Introduction to Sociology (3)
PSY-2070 Human Growth and Development (3)
BMT-1010 Introduction to Business (3)
BIO-1010 General Biology (4)
SPN-1010 Spanish for Beginners (3)
EGL-1320 Comp II: Writing for Business (technical writing) (3)
SPN-1020 Spanish for Advanced Beginners (3)
SPH-1090 Interpersonal Communication (3)


----- Fall 2011 courses
BIO-2060 Human Anatomy & Physiology II (4)
HIT-115-3N2 Medical Terminology (3)
Aleks Statistics (3)

Are there any clep exams or other exams that I could use to obtain credits in the biology program? Any advise would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Excelsior BS Biology roadmap help? - gonenomad - 08-11-2011

There are a few that I am aware of.

Excelsior has ECE exams in Microbiology and Bioethics. Both of these will apply to the Biology degree.

The biology CLEP is worth 6 credits. I suspect that some of it would be redundant to the general biology course you already took. Excelsior may not count all the credits from this exam because of your prior course.

Chemistry is crucial to Biology. You will want to take the Chemistry CLEP. According to the Excelsior catalog (pg20) you need at least one course in chemistry.

Ohio University has some upper division BIO courses that you can complete by taking an exam. Courses A-L

Excelsior BS Biology roadmap help? - NAP - 08-11-2011

Welcome to the forum!

We recently had a member of the forum graduate with a Biology major at EC. Sunshine posted information and her degree plan here:

http://www.degreeforum.net/general-education-testing-discussion/10450-im-done-too.html

If any of the requirements have changed, you can get the details in the Liberal Arts Catalog:

https://www.excelsior.edu/469

Also, download the Student Guide to Credit by Exam from the same page. It will tell you which exams (ECEs and DSSTs) count as upper-level. You will need at least 15 upper-level credits within your major and at most 15 that can be from other subjects. We are also waiting for a new Student Guide because more DSST exams are now considered upper-level.

I'm looking forward to following your progress!

Excelsior BS Biology roadmap help? - Yenisei - 08-12-2011

The Pathophysiology ECE exam should also apply to the programm but be sure to confirm that.

Excelsior BS Biology roadmap help? - NAP - 08-12-2011

Hi again!

100- and 200-level courses are lower-level. 300- and 400-level courses are upper-level. It looks like you have all lower-level credits, so far. ALEKS Stats is upper-level.

Here are the categories that your courses fit:

Written English Requirement:
EGL-1010 Comp I: Expository Writing (3)

Humanities – have 12

SPN-1010 Spanish for Beginners (3)
EGL-1320 Comp II: Writing for Business (technical writing) (3)
SPN-1020 Spanish for Advanced Beginners (3)
SPH-1090 Interpersonal Communication (3)

Social Science/History – have 9

PSY-1010 General Psychology (3)
SOC-1010 Introduction to Sociology (3)
PSY-2070 Human Growth and Development (3)

Natural Science/Math – have 21

BIO-2050 Human Anatomy & Physiology (4)
MAT-1350 College Algebra (3)
BIO-1010 General Biology (4)
Aleks Statistics (3) – upper-level
Microbiology with lab (4) - planned
Chemistry with lab (4) - planned

Applied Professional – have 3

BMT-1010 Introduction to Business (3)

I like to use this list and the Student Guide to check the General Education categories:
http://www.degreeforum.net/general-education-testing-discussion/7793-alpha-numerics-dummies.html

(General Ed and Arts & Sciences are the same categories – Humanities, Social Science, History, Natural Science, and Math. Applied Professional is like free electives.)

You will need to create 1 depth, which is 9 LL and 3 UL credits in one subject. You will also need Information Literacy and the capstone course.

Outside of your major, there is a lot of flexibility to choose courses or exams that fit your goals, interests, and overall credit needs.

We are expecting a new Student Guide to be published; there have been some changes in the exam policies that give more upper-level options in the DSSTs.
http://www.degreeforum.net/excelsior-thomas-edison-charter-oak-specific/14014-excelsior-accepting-more-dsst-upper-units.html

Also, there are new Gen Ed policies starting in a couple of months.
http://www.degreeforum.net/excelsior-thomas-edison-charter-oak-specific/14373-new-gen-ed-requirements-those-enrolling.html

This is like learning a foreign language. Let us know, as you have more questions. Hopefully we can help.

Excelsior BS Biology roadmap help? - domiblack - 08-12-2011

Thanks guys for all your help! I just finished my Aleks Statistics initial assesment and I got 73% on the first try! I also changed my fall 2011 courses to microbiology lec and lab and Chemistry lec and lab to better suit the major requirements for Excelsior.



NAP Wrote:Hi again!

100- and 200-level courses are lower-level. 300- and 400-level courses are upper-level. It looks like you have all lower-level credits, so far. ALEKS Stats is upper-level.

Here are the categories that your courses fit:

Written English Requirement:
EGL-1010 Comp I: Expository Writing (3)

Humanities – have 12

SPN-1010 Spanish for Beginners (3)
EGL-1320 Comp II: Writing for Business (technical writing) (3)
SPN-1020 Spanish for Advanced Beginners (3)
SPH-1090 Interpersonal Communication (3)

Social Science/History – have 9

PSY-1010 General Psychology (3)
SOC-1010 Introduction to Sociology (3)
PSY-2070 Human Growth and Development (3)

Natural Science/Math – have 18

BIO-2050 Human Anatomy & Physiology (4)
MAT-1350 College Algebra (3)
BIO-1010 General Biology (4)
BIO-2060 Human Anatomy & Physiology II (4)
Aleks Statistics (3) – upper-level

Applied Professional – have 6

BMT-1010 Introduction to Business (3)
HIT-115-3N2 Medical Terminology (3) – not sure which category

I like to use this list and the Student Guide to check the General Education categories:
http://www.degreeforum.net/general-education-testing-discussion/7793-alpha-numerics-dummies.html

(General Ed and Arts & Sciences are the same categories – Humanities, Social Science, History, Natural Science, and Math. Applied Professional is like free electives.)

You will need to create 1 depth, which is 9 LL and 3 UL credits in one subject. You will also need Information Literacy and the capstone course.

Outside of your major, there is a lot of flexibility to choose courses or exams that fit your goals, interests, and overall credit needs.

We are expecting a new Student Guide to be published; there have been some changes in the exam policies that give more upper-level options in the DSSTs.
http://www.degreeforum.net/excelsior-thomas-edison-charter-oak-specific/14014-excelsior-accepting-more-dsst-upper-units.html

Also, there are new Gen Ed policies starting in a couple of months.
http://www.degreeforum.net/excelsior-thomas-edison-charter-oak-specific/14373-new-gen-ed-requirements-those-enrolling.html

This is like learning a foreign language. Let us know, as you have more questions. Hopefully we can help.


Excelsior BS Biology roadmap help? - NAP - 08-12-2011

domiblack Wrote:Thanks guys for all your help! I just finished my Aleks Statistics initial assesment and I got 73% on the first try! I also changed my fall 2011 courses to microbiology lec and lab and Chemistry lec and lab to better suit the major requirements for Excelsior.

Wow! Great job on ALEKS Stats! I think that is the fastest completion that I have seen on it!

If that means that you like Math, consider Math for your depth and maxing out the credits that EC allows for Math. They allow 9 credits below Calculus and Statistics does not count. So, you could still take 2 more ALEKS courses, the College Math CLEP, or something else for 6 more credits and you will complete the depth, too.

Okay, so I deleted BIO-2060 Human Anatomy & Physiology II (4) and HIT-115-3N2 Medical Terminology (3) and added Microbiology with lab (4) and Chemistry with lab (4) to my previous post. Is that correct?

Excelsior BS Biology roadmap help? - domiblack - 08-12-2011

I know, im shocked because I fear math, and it literally took a month for me to finish the initial assessment (yes sad I know), now that im done, I feel awesome!

Yes thats correct, i deleted A&P II and Med. Term and replaced them with microbio. and chem I , both lab courses.