TESU BSBA Marketing Questions

[scaffdog]

Hi All, I have been kicking the idea of getting a degree around for years and have decided that this year I will take the leap.  I have decided on TESU, and considering my decade plus long background in Sales and Marketing I figure that the BSBA Marketing Degree is the right one for me.  I intend to remain in this career path, and recently lost a VP position that I was well qualified for due to not having a degree(this isn't conjecture, I was told by another VP that the company owner requires at least a Bachelor's for all Officer positions within his company, and this was the only negative mark for me.) which really gave me the kick in the butt to get moving on this.

Where I am asking for help is mapping out a proper path to degree.  I am a voracious reader, strong test taker, and have already signed up for Saylor.org and taken several test exams and have scored over 70 in all of them.  I am willing to put in whatever effort is required to complete this goal, but I'm not one for wasting effort so I'm looking for the most efficient and cost effective method.  I have looked into the WIKI and Sanantone's plan, but it seems there have been many changes in what TESU and/or ACE will allow, the ALEKS Math courses being an obvious example. 

Would anyone be willing/interested in helping me design a proper degree path? 

**Note, I'm not stuck to the Marketing degree, just chose that one use to my experience.

Additional Ideas:

• I have signed up at TEEX and intend to take their free courses as well as the NFA and Sophia free courses. 
  
• After that I intend to utilize as much of the Saylor.org content that I can.
  
• I would likely utilize CLEP, DSST, and TECEP exams for much of the remaining credits.
  
• Straighterline, CSU, PF or other for anything I couldn't study and test out on
  

I have applied for the study.com Guardian scholarship as well, but don't intend to wait if I get to the point where I need the courses and haven't heard back from them.

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Another point of clarification, I have zero current credits, so I'm starting with a clean slate.

[Ideas]

BSBA Marketing seems right for you if you plan to keep doing Marketing work, but do you mind taking all the other Business classes? Accounting, Economics, Stats, etc. You could do the BA in Liberal Studies faster and cheaper if you didn't care what your degree was in.

I would wait at least 4 weeks on Study.com because you can work on CLEP, etc.

I believe the easiest way to fulfill the Marketing Research requirement is through Study.com. Then you can take Principles of Marketing at Saylor (if you did not already) which is extremely easy. And the rest of the Marketing concentration can be TECEPs.

[bjcheung77]

Scaffdog, I think you're on the hot seat for thinking of Saylor exams. I was once a Saylor fanatic as they are cheap, however; things turned in favor for SL/Study.com shortly afterward (easier to pass and saves me a lot of time for a little bit more). In fact, I had a template made entirely for Saylor exams but decided not to add it to my spreadsheets list, I might actually just add it back after I make some minor adjustments...

Have a read in the Beginners Guide, I copied a template from dfrecore and customized it with mainly SL/Study.com courses. It's got the BSBA GM template and within the guide, I have the Marketing AOS as well. You should start with the FREE courses, it'll be used in your Free Electives section. Then work on those general education courses, professional business ones, and finish it off with the AOS/Capstone.

[dfrecore]

Here is the BSBA in Marketing for TESU.  The courses for which there is a Saylor option are listed.

If you like Saylor, you may like Davar as well, as they are purely testing - but they give you the study materials in order to pass the test.  Right now, they have a deal for business courses, so you might want to look at that as well.

Good luck!

[scaffdog]

Scaffdog, I think you're on the hot seat for thinking of Saylor exams.  I was once a Saylor fanatic as they are cheap, however; things turned in favor for SL/Study.com shortly afterward (easier to pass and saves me a lot of time for a little bit more).  In fact, I had a template made entirely for Saylor exams but decided not to add it to my spreadsheets list, I might actually just add it back after I make some minor adjustments...

Have a read in the Beginners Guide, I copied a template from dfrecore and customized it with mainly SL/Study.com courses.   It's got the BSBA GM template and within the guide, I have the Marketing AOS as well.  You should start with the FREE courses, it'll be used in your Free Electives section.  Then work on those general education courses, professional business ones, and finish it off with the AOS/Capstone.

Thanks for the help.  To clarify, you are saying the time for study on Saylor is what makes it not a great idea?  But if I can just pay the $25 ProctorU fee and take the test without the cumbersome course info that's likely still the best option?

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Thanks for the Excel file, I had been using a prior one you made that I found through the Wiki. Ill also look into Davar, hadn't heard of them before.

[dfrecore]

Thanks for the help.  To clarify, you are saying the time for study on Saylor is what makes it not a great idea?  But if I can just pay the $25 ProctorU fee and take the test without the cumbersome course info that's likely still the best option?

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Thanks for the Excel file, I had been using a prior one you made that I found through the Wiki.  Ill also look into Davar, hadn't heard of them before.

There are very mixed reviews for Saylor.  Here's my take: if you think you can pass an exam without studying, then pay the $25 and take it.  Worst that happens is you fail, and then can study and take it either through Saylor again (after 3 days) or take it another way.

[scaffdog]

OK, could you check my math here, listed in what I believe to be the lowest prices to the highest priced options:

• Approx 9 Free credits available from a variety of sources
  
• Saylor is $25 per course with ProctorU Exam for Credit
  
• Shmoop is $87.68 per month, unlimited courses
  
• Davar Academy is $99/mo for "Business Class" plus proctor fee, and $70/class for Gen Ed.
  
• Straighterline is $99/mo pus $59 per course...no limit to # of courses per month
  
• Study.com is $199/mo but limited to two exams per month
  
• CLEP/DSST seems to be about $115 per test in my area once admin fee is paid
  
• TECEP is $159 per test
  

Does that cover it or am I missing someone?

[davewill]

I took four Saylor courses, three of them before they were available for credit...I was using them to prepare for other tests. The one I took for credit was COS101 which was so easy for me, that it's hard for me to judge the course. The only problem with Saylor is that the material is spread over various public websites. This causes problems with broken links, duplicate information, and changes in terminology from different sources. The courses that were better were able to leverage a single online textbook rather than a melange of sources.

On the plus side, there are multiple versions of the final, a practice one, one that gets you credit with Saylor, and the proctored final for ACE or NCCRS credit. You can use the first two as prep for "real" final. For some courses, you can use the quizzes and assignments as ersatz study guides, for others they don't track the course material that well. I feel that Saylor is worth trying, especially if you feel you have a leg up on the material or are just a very good test taker.

[dfrecore]

OK, could you check my math here, listed in what I believe to be the lowest prices to the highest priced options:

• Approx 9 Free credits available from a variety of sources
  
• Saylor is $25 per course with ProctorU Exam for Credit
  
• Shmoop is $87.68 per month, unlimited courses
  
• Davar Academy is $99/mo for "Business Class" plus proctor fee, and $70/class for Gen Ed.
  
• Straighterline is $99/mo pus $59 per course...no limit to # of courses per month
  
• Study.com is $199/mo but limited to two exams per month
  
• CLEP/DSST seems to be about $115 per test in my area once admin fee is paid
  
• TECEP is $159 per test
  

Does that cover it or am I missing someone?

There are 10cr free (2cr for Ethics, 2cr each for 3 TEEX courses, 1cr for NFA and 1cr for Sophia)

Davar has a special right now, so the $99 is for 2 business courses - and then you pay $15 for a proctor for each course (so a total of $129 for 2 courses.  For everything else, it's $70 for a course plus $15 for the proctor

Study.com allows any exam after the first 2 in a month for $70.

TECEP's are only $117 per exam if you enroll first (and you should)

[bjcheung77]

Thanks for the help.  To clarify, you are saying the time for study on Saylor is what makes it not a great idea?  But if I can just pay the $25 ProctorU fee and take the test without the cumbersome course info that's likely still the best option?

That's exactly right, their course material needs work, otherwise, I love them for their price. I would usually recommend them for those who are strapped for cash or don't have much time studying but would do well on tests. For those who are close to a testing center, I get them to do the CLEP/DSST. For those who like to get things completed at their home as it's "comfy", Saylor/SL/Study.com - BTW, have a read in the Beginners Guide if you haven't had a chance yet.

Since you're someone who's at a higher level position, I would assume at least a Supervisor or Manager level. I would tell you to think of "price vs time" and select your comfort level. For me, since I live 1.5 hours to the nearest testing center, I would rather pay slightly more to do SL/Study.com (even though it's actually cheaper for me than CLEP/DSST). I can use that time to work OT hours (I get $75/hour working OT).

I chose SL/Study.com as it's easier to pass the classes, heck, some of SL's classes can be done in a day - open book finals, pass the course before you hit the finals. Study.com's courses range from 33% to 66% for the final exam, depending on the assignments or projects. So, I would rather pay slightly more to get a sure pass with those open book finals and zip through that course in a couple or three days vs studying 5 days and taking a CLEP/DSST or Saylor unless I know that well enough.