New to the world of CLEP/DSST/Penn Foster/ALEKS, need some guidance from the pros.

[Cleppin87]

So I am currently going to Kaplan University Online because they gave me 40 quarter credit hours free for my military experiences.

I had previously taken a semester of general education which resulted in me receiving credit for College Comp II (for my writing 101).

I now am eligible to take assessments through their college for College Comp I, College Alg. and Business Math/Stats. I am using the CLEP study guide for College Composition in general to use their assessment for Comp I.

I am currently going for my Associate's of Applied Science in Business Administration. I have 1 year and 7 months left in the Army and I plan on going to the University of Houston when I get out because I am one of the people who want the "name" on my degree. They accept a maximum of 66 hours but have pre-business requirements such as (some of my previous course work) and American History II, American Govt, I need another science class, another humanities and another social science. I plan on taking the CLEP or DSST for them so I'm not headed off to U of H thinking I have 54 credits left to complete and really have like 70.

I am a husband and father of two so leaving the military and being a college student for 3+ years aimlessly trying to knock classes out really is not an option.

My ultimate goal is either a BBA and go after an MBA or getting my BS in Finance/Marketing and a MS in Finance/Marketing. I think as I move along with my courses I will be able to discern which of the three I would like to go for.

I am familiar with CLEP/DSST and that I need to study and then go to my ed center on base to take them.

I didn't find out what ALEKS, Penn Foster were until I got on here ( I still don't really know ).

Any advice on what the heck those are, the best exams to take to thrust me further into my degree plans would be appreciated. I am very motivated but a bit directionless.

[UptonSinclair]

If you are planning to transfer to University of Houston, all of your decisions should be based on what they will accept.

Aleks is a self-paced system by McGraw-Hill that has several math and statistics courses that are evaluated by the American Council on Education (ACE) for college credit. The big 3, (Excelsior, Charter Oak, and Thomas Edison) accept these credits. You would have to check with University of Houston, but I doubt they would accept the credits. Most traditional colleges are picky about non-traditional sources of credit. This is why most people on here are pursuing degrees through one of the big 3.

Penn Foster is an online college that is not regionally accredited but has several courses that have been evaluated by ACE. Same deal as Aleks. They are great for the big three, but not as useful for traditional schools.

Since you plan to get your Bachelor's degree from the University of Houston, I wouldn't get too hung up on completing the Associates Degree. Put your efforts into taking courses that will transfer to University of Houston. It may be worth looking at community colleges in Texas that have transfer agreements with University of Houston (or state wide agreements) and taking your classes online through one of them. This way you have a guarantee that the credits will transfer rather than a best guess scenario.

http://www.uh.edu/admissions/admitted/tr...iculation/

Information regarding course equivalencies based on the common course codes of Texas. I am not familiar with their numbering system, but it appears to list the community college courses that will transfer.

http://www.uh.edu/admissions/apply/apply...4-2015.pdf

Even with your CLEP and DSST exams, I would check the following document from University of Houston to see if they are accepted.

http://www.las.uh.edu/uts/brochure/20140...course.pdf

You may want to have a look at the MBA admissions requirements at University of Houston and see if they can be met using a BSBA at Thomas Edison State College. TESC degrees can be completed at a rapid pace using alternative sources of credit and many have used them to go on to traditional Master's programs.

Good luck with your studies.

[Cleppin87]

If you are planning to transfer to University of Houston, all of your decisions should be based on what they will accept.

Aleks is a self-paced system by McGraw-Hill that has several math and statistics courses that are evaluated by the American Council on Education (ACE) for college credit. The big 3, (Excelsior, Charter Oak, and Thomas Edison) accept these credits. You would have to check with University of Houston, but I doubt they would accept the credits. Most traditional colleges are picky about non-traditional sources of credit. This is why most people on here are pursuing degrees through one of the big 3.

Penn Foster is an online college that is not regionally accredited but has several courses that have been evaluated by ACE. Same deal as Aleks. They are great for the big three, but not as useful for traditional schools.

Since you plan to get your Bachelor's degree from the University of Houston, I wouldn't get too hung up on completing the Associates Degree. Put your efforts into taking courses that will transfer to University of Houston. It may be worth looking at community colleges in Texas that have transfer agreements with University of Houston (or state wide agreements) and taking your classes online through one of them. This way you have a guarantee that the credits will transfer rather than a best guess scenario.

Articulation Agreements - University of Houston

Information regarding course equivalencies based on the common course codes of Texas. I am not familiar with their numbering system, but it appears to list the community college courses that will transfer.

http://www.uh.edu/admissions/apply/apply...4-2015.pdf

Even with your CLEP and DSST exams, I would check the following document from University of Houston to see if they are accepted.

http://www.las.uh.edu/uts/brochure/20140...course.pdf

You may want to have a look at the MBA admissions requirements at University of Houston and see if they can be met using a BSBA at Thomas Edison State College. TESC degrees can be completed at a rapid pace using alternative sources of credit and many have used them to go on to traditional Master's programs.

Good luck with your studies.

That is exactly what I was looking for. I wish I would have found this site sooner. I think already having started at my school it would be counter productive to try and switch now.

I thought about it last night and I think just finishing my degree online, which is feasible in my time frame.
Then pursuing a traditional masters degree.

You hit the nail on the head thanks so much for your input it was literally everything I needed.

Do you know of any good sources to study for the GMAT?

[sanantone]

Too bad you didn't know about Central Texas College. They accept military training, ACE, NCCRS, CLEP, DSST, and Excelsior College Exams (now Uexcel). They probably have articulation agreements with several public universities in Texas; however, you don't really need it. CLEP3705 talks about this a lot. Any credits used to fulfill the core (gen ed) at a public school in Texas has to be accepted to fulfill that same requirement at another public school in Texas. Also, Texas requires, by law, guaranteed transfer of certain courses in certain subjects between public schools. I believe business administration is one of them. CTC would have been a whole lot cheaper than Kaplan. They have a pretty good selection of online courses and programs.