Are there Degree Planning Consultants?

[RICKE95126]

I have been following this forum for some time. I posted a question asking for advice on getting started on a degree and received some wonderful comments, but with all the acronyms, options for programs, testing, majors, financing, etc. I am completely lost, and I am starting to see I will miss so many details that will impact costs and time. 

Are there consultants who can help me develop a degree plan based on my needs? (What I know my strengths and my weaknesses are) The current educational landscape, time and $ budget, learning style, topics I am strongest and weakest in. 

I have been reading these forums for 2 years now, and if I tried this SOLO, I would have spent a year of work and would have had to start over again.

Can you point me in the direction of someone who has experience working with people to develop a person-specific plan? 

Thanks

[ROYISAGIRL]

I don't know if there are ant consultants here, but I do know there are plenty of people who can help with degree planning if you post credits you have in this format:

School Name
If Regionally or Nationally accredited
If Semester or Quarter hrs
The course name and grade

Do that for all courses and also what type of degree you want i.e. BA in Criminal Justice etc.


Sent from my SM-G981V using DegreeForum.net mobile app

[P226mem]

Probably there are people who will be willing to charge you thousands for that.

While waiting to find one and have money, here's free tip. If you need help to learn some of acronyms, start with this part of the wiki https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Common_Terms

[rachel83az]

It is always confusing to get started. The biggest issue is that there is no "one good way" to get a degree. It depends heavily on your personal circumstances. What is right for you will not be right for anyone else. For instance, your post indicates that liberal studies could be a good option for you but it would likely be a wholly inappropriate option for someone who wanted to go into programming or technology.

There are a handful of us who have been around for a while and who are relatively familiar with the degree-seeking process. Each of us has a different idea of what the best course of action might be for a given student. Charter Oak is a long-time favorite due to its low cost. But it has a number of significant drawbacks. TESU is the most expensive, but they offer degrees you can't easily get elsewhere (such as math). Excelsior is in the middle as far as cost goes but they also have a few downsides. UMPI is 100% the most straightforward approach, but some people don't like the idea of competency-based degrees.

If you just want someone to tell you what to do: my first post outlined exactly how to get an associate's degree from Pierpont and then to continue on to UMPI. If you don't feel like that's right for you, please feel free to go back to your original thread and ask questions. Why won't that work for you? What are you looking for? Even if you got one of us as your personal degree consultant, you'd still have to answer these questions and you'd have plenty of questions of your own. Don't feel bad about asking questions. It's what we're here for. We've all had to start at the beginning at one time or another.

[RICKE95126]

Probably there are people who will be willing to charge you thousands for that.

While waiting to find one and have money, here's free tip. If you need help to learn some of acronyms, start with this part of the wiki https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Common_Terms

Thanks ?

[monchevy]

I did it solo, and it took me a few evenings to choose a school (not one of the "Big Three) and map out a degree plan. A "consultant" would do the same thing you could do yourself... look at what you already have, what you need, and spend some time on Google finding where it all fits. Don't pay people to do what you can do yourself, and certainly don't just hand over your major decisions to someone you don't even know.

(And no, I don't have tons of free time on my hands. I have a FT+ day job and three side jobs.)

[dfrecore]

I help degree plan for free here, as well as paid for people who PM me and ask for it. Your best bet is to post your credits, and then see what people here say, and then if you still can't make a decision, ask more questions.

[RICKE95126]

It is always confusing to get started. The biggest issue is that there is no "one good way" to get a degree. It depends heavily on your personal circumstances. What is right for you will not be right for anyone else. For instance, your post indicates that liberal studies could be a good option for you but it would likely be a wholly inappropriate option for someone who wanted to go into programming or technology.

There are a handful of us who have been around for a while and who are relatively familiar with the degree-seeking process. Each of us has a different idea of what the best course of action might be for a given student. Charter Oak is a long-time favorite due to its low cost. But it has a number of significant drawbacks. TESU is the most expensive, but they offer degrees you can't easily get elsewhere (such as math). Excelsior is in the middle as far as cost goes but they also have a few downsides. UMPI is 100% the most straightforward approach, but some people don't like the idea of competency-based degrees.

If you just want someone to tell you what to do: my first post outlined exactly how to get an associate's degree from Pierpont and then to continue on to UMPI. If you don't feel like that's right for you, please feel free to go back to your original thread and ask questions. Why won't that work for you? What are you looking for? Even if you got one of us as your personal degree consultant, you'd still have to answer these questions and you'd have plenty of questions of your own. Don't feel bad about asking questions. It's what we're here for. We've all had to start at the beginning at one time or another.

Hello Rachel, so forgive me in advance if I repeat a few questions, as I mentioned before I have tried this a few times and ended up lost, spending time and money I did not need to spend is seems.

My priorities are as follows.
1) Fastest path to a bachelor's degree (self study,....the least challenging testing/learning experience.. is CLEP is harder to navigate than study.com, etc..)
1a) as little math as possible
2) I Don't do well with "here is a book read it and 6 weeks later proctored exam", I do better will chapter based courses with knowledge checks along the way and and a summary exam at the end.
3) I don't care what the degree is in.
4) Credit for prior experience?
5) Money

Can you help me understand:
Charter Oak is a long-time favorite due to its low cost. But it has a number of significant drawbacks. 

What are the drawbacks?

TESU is the most expensive, but they offer degrees you can't easily get elsewhere (such as math). 
Based on my use case does TESU fit?

Excelsior is in the middle as far as cost goes but they also have a few downsides. 

What are the downsides?

UMPI is 100% the most straightforward approach, but some people don't like the idea of competency-based degrees.

What are competency based degrees, how does this differ from the above mentioned institutions?

I read pell grants are a consideration?

Some schools have a flat rate program?

Some platforms have exams that are more easily passable based on prior knowledge? (I've heard this about so CLEP exam's)

There are repositories for credits?

Is these a matrix I can use to map out what credit I need to get, where I can get them and difficult of the platform?

Thanks!

[dfrecore]

Hello Rachel, so forgive me in advance if I repeat a few questions, as I mentioned before I have tried this a few times and ended up lost, spending time and money I did not need to spend is seems.

My priorities are as follows.
1) Fastest path to a bachelor's degree (self study,....the least challenging testing/learning experience.. is CLEP is harder to navigate than study.com, etc..)
1a) as little math as possible
2) I Don't do well with "here is a book read it and 6 weeks later proctored exam", I do better will chapter based courses with knowledge checks along the way and and a summary exam at the end.
3) I don't care what the degree is in.
4) Credit for prior experience?
5) Money

Can you help me understand:
Charter Oak is a long-time favorite due to its low cost. But it has a number of significant drawbacks. 

What are the drawbacks?

TESU is the most expensive, but they offer degrees you can't easily get elsewhere (such as math). 
Based on my use case does TESU fit?

Excelsior is in the middle as far as cost goes but they also have a few downsides. 

What are the downsides?

UMPI is 100% the most straightforward approach, but some people don't like the idea of competency-based degrees.

What are competency based degrees, how does this differ from the above mentioned institutions?

I read pell grants are a consideration?

Some schools have a flat rate program?

Some platforms have exams that are more easily passable based on prior knowledge? (I've heard this about so CLEP exam's)

There are repositories for credits?

Is these a matrix I can use to map out what credit I need to get, where I can get them and difficult of the platform?

Thanks!

Every school has pros and cons.  Each platform also has it's pros and cons - what works for one person may not work for another.  Your best bet there is to try some out and see what you like.

All of the Big 3 and UMPI are going to be self-study, if that's what you can call it.  You won't be sitting in a classroom for 16 weeks through each course.

CLEP requires that you self-study, unless you do the ModernStates courses (which may or may not be enough to pass).  If you don't want 100% of your grade to be based on a single exam, I'd skip CLEP.

Here are some facts about the different BALS/BALA degrees:

1) COSC & TESU both require 30cr of RA credit - so 6cr at the school for cornerstone and capstone, and then 24cr must be brought in from RA schools.  ONU is one option, for $50/cr, so they're a great choice (and they have UL credits)

2) COSC & EC both require 30cr of UL, while TESU only requires 18cr of UL (or 15cr of UL for the BSBA)

3) COSC requires a concentration of 36cr, 18cr of which are UL (includes the capstone). You can choose 2-3 areas but they have to "fit" and it must be approved by your advisor - and you write your capstone on it.  TESU and EC don't require a concentration for the BALS, and your capstone is written on what you want (TESU) and I have no idea (EC).

4) COSC only allows ACE credit now (no NCCRS) and only has a small list of course/exam providers (AP, CLEP, DSST, Study.com, Sophia, Saylor, Straighterline, and CSM Learn).  ESU "says" they only have approved providers, but so far will take any ACE and NCCRS credits people send in.  EC has no approved provider list, will take ACE and NCCRS, as well as NA credit.

5) EC will accept the lowest level of math as meeting their requirement (I think they take Study.com's MAT 97: Intro to Mathematical Reasoning or MAT 99: Essentials of Algebra and Statistics as meeting their math requirement); TESU & COSC will take Liberal Arts Math or College Math



6) COSC requires a lab science plus a non-lab science; TESU & EC will take any science; TESU requires at least 4cr of science; EC only requires 2cr of science

7) TESU considers many CompSci courses "natural sciences" and counts as GE courses; EC and COSC consider all IT/CompSci courses as Free Electives

That's what I can think of off the top of my head.  There are probably more.  But that gives you an idea of what you're looking at - it will be different from everyone based on what they're good at, what they've already taken, and what they plan.

[bjcheung77]

I help degree plan for free here, as well as paid for people who PM me and ask for it. Your best bet is to post your credits, and then see what people here say, and then if you still can't make a decision, ask more questions.

Add me to the list, I do the degree planning and consultations free here, I get bombarded with PM and emails each and everyday with requests as well. Original Poster, if you have any credits at all, post them. As per the previous thread, we can advise you which program would be more suitable for you. Do you have tuition reimbursement from work?