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+--- Thread: A greeting, and request for help! (/Thread-A-greeting-and-request-for-help)
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A greeting, and request for help! - three3nine - 08-22-2014
Good evening.
I've been watching the online/alternate degree community for many years now. I've been a part of several boards, and groups, and I finally found my way here. I am looking forward to becoming a part of this group.
I am extraordinarily interested in online/distance education, the promise that it provides for many who would, in many situations, not be able to achieve their educational goals otherwise, and it's connection with society/technology.
Ultimately, I come here because of the prospect of completing my own educational goals, and I seek advice, and guidance. I have read many pieces of information, but I am still scared that I am going to go about all of this the wrong way. What it comes down to is that I have essentially painted myself into a corner, educationally, due to a multitude of mistakes when I was younger. The only option for completing a degree/s at this point, are likely through the test-out method.
I have about 70-ish credits thus far. Transferring them shouldn't be a problem, but there are several roadblocks preventing that at the moment. Beyond this, I just hope that some of you here will be willing to walk me through what I need to do to consider, plan, and execute this whole process. I am going to read, and reread much more around here, too, just to further gather information. I am familiar with the big three, and how the process works, I just want to make sure I am doing things correctly. I just don't know which of these is the best choice, or which tests are the best, where to find ACE recommended courses or whom to contact to verify their usability, etc. The one part of all of this that I never really studied or researched in depth IS the testing method.
I look forward to being a part of this online community, helping to further our cause and interests, helping others who are in the same situation that I am in, and hopefully helping to bring more visibility to all of this by completing this whole process. Thanks again.
PS - Forgive me if this should have gone in a different category.
Best wishes,
Clay / three3nine
A greeting, and request for help! - soliloquy - 08-22-2014
three3nine Wrote:Good evening.
I've been watching the online/alternate degree community for many years now. I've been a part of several boards, and groups, and I finally found my way here. I am looking forward to becoming a part of this group.
I am extraordinarily interested in online/distance education, the promise that it provides for many who would, in many situations, not be able to achieve their educational goals otherwise, and it's connection with society/technology.
Ultimately, I come here because of the prospect of completing my own educational goals, and I seek advice, and guidance. I have read many pieces of information, but I am still scared that I am going to go about all of this the wrong way. What it comes down to is that I have essentially painted myself into a corner, educationally, due to a multitude of mistakes when I was younger. The only option for completing a degree/s at this point, are likely through the test-out method.
I have about 70-ish credits thus far. Transferring them shouldn't be a problem, but there are several roadblocks preventing that at the moment. Beyond this, I just hope that some of you here will be willing to walk me through what I need to do to consider, plan, and execute this whole process. I am going to read, and reread much more around here, too, just to further gather information. I am familiar with the big three, and how the process works, I just want to make sure I am doing things correctly. I just don't know which of these is the best choice, or which tests are the best, where to find ACE recommended courses or whom to contact to verify their usability, etc. The one part of all of this that I never really studied or researched in depth IS the testing method.
I look forward to being a part of this online community, helping to further our cause and interests, helping others who are in the same situation that I am in, and hopefully helping to bring more visibility to all of this by completing this whole process. Thanks again.
PS - Forgive me if this should have gone in a different category.
Best wishes,
Clay / three3nine
Welcome to the board!
Like you, I did a lot of reading and more reading before I finally decided to dive into this. I lurked here for a loooooooooong while before I ever joined. I am no expert because my situation was unique as I used credential evaluations and CLEP/DSST to accomplish most of my goals but I think the best thing to do is to start off by listing what your goals are (career/personal) and what type of degree you are seeking (fastest possible or a particular field). Also list all of your earned credits and explain what your current roadblocks are. That will help us give you better feedback.
A greeting, and request for help! - KayV - 08-22-2014
Welcome! And as Soliloquy said, we can help you best if you list the credits you have with their prefixes ("ENC 101 English Comp I 3 hrs"). Also please let us know if they come from a university or a community college, and if they are quarter hours instead of semester hours.
Generally, TESC is a good choice for completing a degree if you have D (for Diploma!) grades that you would like to use for credit, since they take Ds for everything except English Comp and classes in the major, for which you need a C. What's more, they list all transfer credit as CR instead of as a letter grade, so it will not damage your TESC GPA. Graduate schools will still want to see all transcripts, though, so keep that in mind if you want to go to grad school. Charter Oak will accept Ds for many classes too, but they go on the transcript as a D (you can petition to exclude them though). Excelsior does not accept D grades at all in transfer.
A greeting, and request for help! - three3nine - 08-22-2014
Awesome!
Thank you both for your insight! I'll get some of my transcript information, etc., and post it here as well as other stuff so that everyone will have somewhat of a clearer picture.
I'll see about doing that later this evening after dinner or tomorrow.
Thanks again!
- Clay
A greeting, and request for help! - three3nine - 08-22-2014
Below is the majority of the transfer credit I have. Roadblock -- major one -- applies to APUS. I went to them for a two quarters, and ended up having problems IRL. Got kicked out due to grades, and lost financial aid. All fixable. Then, after everything was paid, they came back and said that I owe them $900 for books or something or other. I'm not sure. Either way, though, I doubt I'll be able to get my transcript from them. I don't have any credit with them, but I'm probably still going to need that transcript to send, no? I'm sure I can whittle that down if necessary, but I'd like to work on other stuff first. As far as transferability, I just want to get the most bang for my buck.
As far as degree majors go, if I need to choose something, we can deal with that when the time comes. A degree in HR, Psychology, Sociology -- whatever. I'd like to do something graduate in HR eventually, but I want to focus on all of this for now. One step at a time.
I made some bad decisions in the past, and I also had a lot of real life problems going on. Personal, heath-related, etc. Beyond that, I'm pretty much done with excuses...I just want to finish my schooling. I'm getting a little older now, too, and I want to leave all of that behind me.
So, for you all to look over:
Transfer Credit
There are a few other semester courses, I believe, but I'll have to track them down. They'll be from either Howard Payne University or Texas State Technical College. For now, though, this the majority of the lot.
All of these courses have a C or higher unless otherwise specified.
Format: Prefix---Course Number---Course Title---(Hrs)
SEMESTER HOURS
Central Texas College
GOVT 2302 Federal Government (3) <-- This may actually be Texas Government - I can't remember, and they've changed course numbers since then...
HIST 1302 US History II (3)
Howard Payne University
ENGL 1311 Composition I (3)
PSYC 1311 Introduction to Psychology (3)
Texas State Technical College
MATH 1314 College Algebra (3)
-----
QUARTER HOURS
Baker College
INF 121 Introduction to Windows (2)
INF 114A Introduction to Database Applications (2)
INF 131 Internet and the WWW (2)
INF 113 Electronic Spreadsheets (2)
INF 112 Word Processing (2)
MGT 211 Management & Supervision (4)
MGT 101 Introduction to Business (4)
SCI 451 Environmental Science (4)
SOC 301 Social Problems (4)
ENG 102 Composition II (4)
HUM 401A Philosophy of Ethics (4)
MGT 212 Human Resource Management (4)
PSY 231 Organizational Psychology (4)
ENG 311 Creative Writing (4)
PSY 335 Human Sexuality (4)
SOC 321 Cultural Diversity (4)
Baker College (D in all of these courses)
MKT 111B Principles of Marketing (4)
LIT 311 American Ethnic Literature (4)
WRI 115 Workplace Communication (4)
GEO 101 Western Geography (4)
PSY 211 Psychology of Death and Dying (4)
A greeting, and request for help! - KayV - 08-23-2014
Well, that was an invigorating lot of decimals for a Saturday morning. ; )
As you said, you will need to resolve your account with APUS, but in the meantime, you can get started with earning more credits. This is a plan for a BA in Social Science using 24 hours of TECEPs and Capstone along with some CLEP/DSST. You already had a lot of upper level credits in Psychology and Sociology, so Social Science seemed the logical choice.
The quarter credits add a level of complexity to the degree, but I tried to resolve it as you can see below. You will need to ask for a waiver for the 0.33 in English Comp II, for example, but I think this has what you will need overall.
The use of TECEPs lets you save a bunch of money by enrolling in the Per Credit tuition plan, thereby avoiding the huge enrollment fee.
Suggest away on improvements for this one, everybody.
TESC BA Social Science
I. General Education Requirements
A. Intellectual and Practical Skills 15/ 15.31
1. ENGL 1311 Composition I (3)
2. ENG 102 Composition II (4q/2.66s)
3. MATH 1314 College Algebra (3)
4. WRI 115 Workplace Communication (4q/2.66s)
5. INF 121 Introduction to Windows (2q/1.33s)
6. INF 114A Introduction to Database Applications (2q/1.33s)
7. INF 131 Internet and the WWW (2q/1.33s)
B. Human Cultures 18/ 19.64
8. ENG 311 Creative Writing (4q/2.66s)
9. HIST 1302 US History II (3)
10. GEO 101 Western Geography (4q/2.66s)
11. SCI 451 Environmental Science (4q/2.66s)
12. PSY 211 Psychology of Death and Dying (4q/2.66s)
13. PSYC 1311 Introduction to Psychology (3)
14. GOVT 2302 Federal Government (3)
C. Personal and Social Responsibility 9/ 11.32
15. LIT 311 American Ethnic Literature (4q/2.66s)
16. HUM 401A Philosophy of Ethics (4q/2.66s)
17. *Need SL Anthropology 3 or DSST Anthropology 3
18. *Need CLEP Intro to Sociology 3
D. General Education Electives 18/ 18.93
19. Overage 4.27 from above
20. INF 113 Electronic Spreadsheets (2q/1.33s)
21. INF 112 Word Processing (2q/1.33s)
22. *Need TECEP Technical Writing 3
23. *Need TECEP Public Relations Thought and Practice 3
24. *Need TECEP Intro to Political Science 3
25. *Need TECEP World History from 1600 3
II. Area of Study: Social Science
A. Psychology 14.32, 8.32UL
1. PSY 231 Organizational Psychology (4q/2.66s) (TESC PSY-361 2.66 UL)
2. PSY 335 Human Sexuality (4q/2.66s) (TESC PSY-301 2.66 UL)
3. *Need TECEP Abnormal Psychology (TESC PSY-350 3UL)
4. *Need TECEP Psychology of Women (TESC PSY-270 3)
5. *Need CLEP Human Growth/Dev or DSST Lifespan Psych (TESC PSY-211 3)
B. Sociology 8.32, 5.32 UL
1. SOC 321 Cultural Diversity (4q/2.66s) (TESC SOC-322 2.66UL)
2. SOC 301 Social Problems (4q/2.66s) (TESC SOC-399 2.66UL)
3. *Need TECEP Marriage and the Family (TESC SOC-210 3)
C. Social Science 9, 3UL
1. *Need DSST Substance Abuse (TESC SOS-305 3UL)
2. *Need CLEP Social Science and History 6
D. *Need LIB-495 Liberal Arts Capstone 3UL
III. Free Electives
1. Overage 2.57 from above
2. MGT 211 Management & Supervision (4q/2.66s)
3. MGT 101 Introduction to Business (4q/2.66s)
4. MGT 212 Human Resource Management (4q/2.66s)
5. MKT 111B Principles of Marketing (4q/2.66s)
6. *Need CLEP Analyzing and Interpreting Lit 6
Pick 8 hours no-cost hours from below or use APUS hours:
7. Kaplan PLA from ACE transcript 3
8. National Fire Academy/ NFA from ACE transcript 3
9. TEEX Cybersecurity from ACE transcript 6
A greeting, and request for help! - KayV - 08-23-2014
I should say that I used Bricabrac's suggestions for easy (I mean, manageable) TECEPs.
A greeting, and request for help! - bricabrac - 08-23-2014
KayV Wrote:I should say that I used Bricabrac's suggestions for easy (I mean, manageable) TECEPs.
KayV,
Excellent plan for BA Social Sciences!
If I may, one small suggestion?
Area of Study:
Replace TECEP Abnormal Psychology (TESC PSY-350 3UL) with
DSST COU-262-DE Fundamentals of Counseling (TESC PSY-331 3UL) very easy exam
Free electives:
Add TECEP Computer Concepts and Applications (TESC CIS-107) another "manageable" exam
A greeting, and request for help! - cookderosa - 08-23-2014
Welcome Clay, good to meet you! You're in the right place!
A greeting, and request for help! - sanantone - 08-23-2014
If you want to get into HR, you definitely want to get a degree in HR or business administration. When I was looking at your credits, I was thinking the Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with a specialization in General Management or Computer Information Systems. A BSBA in HR is also pretty test friendly. The best thing about the BSBA programs is that you don't have to worry about the capstone. There technically is one, but you can test out of it or take it cheaply at Penn Foster.
But yeah, it is very hard to break into HR without a degree in business or HR if you don't already have experience. My sister has a degree in psychology and hasn't had any luck. I've applied to several HR jobs in the past with my degree in social science and haven't had any luck. If you look at the job ads, almost all of them will ask for a degree in HR or business administration. Rarely, you will see them ask for a degree in industrial/organizational psychology. For career purposes, I STRONGLY advise against a degree in psychology, sociology, or social science unless you want to work in social services or criminal justice (probation/parole).