Excelsior Depth Requirement NEED ADVICE!!

[BSinBs]

Hi

I've been reading and using this forum for months now and have finally enrolled in Excelsior College to finish my BS in Liberal Studies.

They have informed me that in addition to the capstone and information literacy I need to take the following exams to satisfy a "depth requirement" and graduate:

- Cultural Diversity
- Foundations of Gerontology
- Social Psychology
- World Population
+ College Composition ( not part of depth )

CAN ANYONE ADVISE:
1. if there is an order I should take these in that would be most beneficial ? (Perhaps building on knowledge from one exam to the next)
2. How do ECEs compare to CLEP/DANTES as far as difficulty.
3. Are the InstantCert flash cards sufficient study material or do I need more ? (I have taken several DANTES/CLEP using InstantCert only with great success)
4. Finally, Excelsior refuses to take my CLEP College Composition (6wasted credits I guess) . Is there a way to make them take it ? How hard is the ECE.. I also have 3 English credits from another school so I really only need 3 more (eng II)

SORRY SO MANY QUESTIONS JUST NEED TO GET THIS DONE AND THE STRESS IS OVERWHELMING.

Thanks very much to all that reply.

[NAP]

It looks like they are building a depth in Sociology with 9 UL credits and 3 LL credits. Since a depth usually requires 9 LL and 3 UL, how many UL credits do you need besides the capstone?

A depth in history, psychology, or math is usually easier through exams because you can use a combination of CLEP, DSST, and/or ALEKS, adding ECEs as needed. Do you have any credits already in these subjects?

Are there any other subjects that you have 6-9 credits in already that would fall in the Arts & Sciences categories? I assume you have a depth in Applied Professional.

For English II, you can ask if StraighterLine is still accepted.

[dewisant]

Looks to me like Excelsior keeps changing their mind like they've lost it.

[sanantone]

LOL. It seems like the Big 3 are always changing something.

[bluebooger]

From page 15 of the School of Liberal Arts Catalog

Depth Requirement: A minimum of 12 credits are required in each of 2 different arts and sciences disciplines. At least 3 credits in each depth area must be at the upper level.

So pick 2:
History, Psychology, Sociology, Literature, Communications, Art, Economics, Anthropology, English, Foreign Languages and Literature, New Media Communications, Women Studies, Political Science, Theater, Philosophy, Ethnic Studies, Music.

I pulled those from a couple of different sites. There are more choices. Just look at a few college websites and see what they offer as BS degrees that are not engineering, technical, nurse, allied health and it will be probably be a valid choice for a depth.

The exams they informed you about aren't "needs".
They are inexpensive options to fulfill the depth requirements.

You could ignore their recommendations and go for one depth of History and one depth of Economics.

You could probably do 1) US History and 2) Criminal Justice pretty easily

In my opinion the easiest to do using only exams are 1) History 2) Psychology
I'm sure others will have other suggestions

CAN ANYONE ADVISE:
1. if there is an order I should take these in that would be most beneficial ? (Perhaps building on knowledge from one exam to the next)
2. How do ECEs compare to CLEP/DANTES as far as difficulty.
3. Are the InstantCert flash cards sufficient study material or do I need more ? (I have taken several DANTES/CLEP using InstantCert only with great success)
4. Finally, Excelsior refuses to take my CLEP College Composition (6wasted credits I guess) . Is there a way to make them take it ? How hard is the ECE.. I also have 3 English credits from another school so I really only need 3 more (eng II)

1. for those exams, I have no order to offer
2. I have only taken the 3 hours ECE's. They are more difficult than CLEP/DANTES -- I don't know how difficult the UExcel or 2 hours ECEs are.
3. read rant below
4. try Straighterline , Penn Foster, BYU University Online Course Catalog - BYU Independent Study

RANT:
I have never understood that mentality.
Are you a History buff ? Do you love to read about history and watch documentaries ? Do you have a solid background/foundation in it ? Then you'll do well.
Use the flashcards as a quick brush up.

But I can't understand how anyone can feel like they've accomplished something by using flashcards, getting a B on a bunch of exams and then getting a degree.
You're not going learn History that way. Or Psychology or anything really.
You'll be like someone who does an exam cram to get Microsoft certified in databases but has never written a stored procedure or even installed SQL Server in their life.

If it's an immediate requirement for your job, then OK. That's a good reason.

But if you're going to spend all this money for a degree then you might as well really learn something (rant, rant, rant)

I'm doing an Excelsior BS in Psychology

I have learned so much from watching videos

Social Psychology - Academic Earth

Human Behavioral Biology - Academic Earth

Neuroscience of Everyday Life

Theories of Human Development

Biology and Human Behavior: The Neurological Origins of Individuality, 2nd Edition

Memory and the Human Lifespan

The World of Abnormal Psychology

(many of The Great Courses can be found at your local library)

I've read lots of books

The Psychology of Judgment and Decision Making (McGraw-Hill Series in Social Psychology): Scott Plous: 9780070504776: Amazon.com: Books

Forty Studies that Changed Psychology (7th Edition): Roger R. Hock Ph.D.: 9780205918393: Amazon.com: Books

Psychology (Barron's EZ-101 Study Keys): Don Baucum: 9780812095807: Amazon.com: Books

Introduction to Psychology: Gateways to Mind and Behavior: Dennis Coon, John O. Mitterer: 9780495091554: Amazon.com: Books

got the last one used for about $15 (you should buy all books used through amazon if possible)

yeah, I've been doing this degree for awhile, but once I finish I think my education will be pretty close to what I would have gotten at a brick and mortar school.

So I guess that's the question.
Do you want a degree or an education or both ?

[BSinBs]

Thanks for the replies. I have one depth filled already (criminal justice) I just need this other depth and the English course to fill all the requirements.

I also took the here's to your health and substance abuse DANTES but excelsior says they cannot be used. Shame because I think they're upper level credits....

Thanks again

[NAP]

I suspect that your advisor is trying to fulfill your upper-level needs and your depth at the same time. While it is possible, there may be another way that you will like better. Try downloading the Student Guide to Credit by Exam: School Catalogs - excelsior.edu See if you can find some other combinations to discuss with your advisor.