Depths at Excelsior?

[texassprite]

Is there a list somewhere of all (or at least most) possible depths at Excelsior and which CLEP, DSST, ECE exams (or any other inexpensive options) applies to each? Thanks!

[TMW2010]

Are you talking about majors, or just the depths themselves?

For the depths themselves you choose from the three areas - Social Science & History, Natural Science, & Humanities.

[texassprite]

I guess my understanding was the a depth had to be the same "level" as the majors. For example, math would be a depth, not natural science? Do I have that wrong?

But actually, majors would work for the information that I want. I'm sure I'm not the only one who is just trying to get any degree. I'm working on my roadmap for a BS in Liberal Arts. Depths aren't extremely important, and I would like to be able to look over a list of possible majors/depths and which tests would fulfill those majors/depths. Most are easy enough to figure out, but I'm sure there must be cases where one test would apply to more than one major/depth?

[TMW2010]

I guess my understanding was the a depth had to be the same "level" as the majors. For example, math would be a depth, not natural science? Do I have that wrong?

Yep... The depth is Natural Science and can contain math and hard science credits (Chem, Bio, Geology, so on..)

A depth is 12 credits from the same area with 3 at the upper level.

Majors are 30 credits in a specific category, 18 lower level credits & 12 upper level credits. For liberal arts, the only major I think you might be able to totally test out of (*) is Psychology. Possibly History.

Areas of Focus are basically like Minors. You need 21 credits for an Area of Focus, 6 at the upper level. Both Majors and Areas of Focus can replace the depth requirements. (You can have a Major & 1 depth, An AoF & 1 depth, or a Major and an AoF and no depths)

* To fulfill a Major at EC you have to take an additional 1 credit research and writing class.

As far as what tests will fulfill the areas for Majors, the LA catalog has all the major descriptions & requirements, or you can use your MyEc login to access the publications and get just the PDF that has the specific information for each of the Majors they offer.

[texassprite]

Yep... The depth is Natural Science and can contain math and hard science credits (Chem, Bio, Geology, so on..)

A depth is 12 credits from the same area with 3 at the upper level.

Well, that makes things much easier! I thought since I had seen other people refer to their depths as history, psychology, etc. that I had to make it that specific.

Which brings me to what I hope is my last question: The catalog says "credits used to satisfy requirements in one area may simultaneously satisfy requirements in another area". Does this mean that credits they've applied toward my "General Education Requirements" would work toward the two depths?

[NAP]

It is my understanding that depths are not general, like Social Science or Natural Science, but are somewhat more specific, like Sociology, Psychology, Biology. Since you might not have a major, they are looking for some depth in 2 areas of study.

Yes, you can use credits to meet more than one requirement. If your depth is in Psychology, the credits can be used to meet the social science/history gen ed requirement. Just make sure you have enough arts and sciences credits still.

[NAP]

Okay maybe we could get a list started to give some good ideas of what a depth looks like.

Depending on the degree, both depths may have to be 12 credits in a single arts and sciences discipline with 3 upper level, as in a BALS, or one of the depths could be 12 credits in a single applied professional discipline with 3 upper level, as in a BSLS.

I look at the Majors and Areas of Focus (minors) for ideas.

There is lots of room for variation with depths; these are just some examples.

History – US History I CLEP, US History II CLEP, choose another history exam (adding another UL credit here could be helpful overall), Civil War DSST UL
At first, I thought a depth had to be as specific as US History, but it seems that it just needs to be History.
[Update: American Government (political science) and Social Science & History CLEPs will not count toward a history depth.]

Math – College Math CLEP, 1 ALEKS math, ALEKS Stats UL
This also is the maximum amount of credit that is allowed under the level of Calculus.
[Update: Statistics does count as math, but it does not count toward the 3 courses below calculus policy. Statistics through ALEKS counts as upper-level credit, and can be used to fulfill a depth in math.]
[Update: College Math CLEP (6 credits) counts as 2 courses below the level of Calculus. Three levels of math through ALEKS (9 LL credits) plus Statistics through ALEKS (3 UL credits) would be the least expensive way to complete a depth in Math.]

Foreign Language – ACTFL 8LL + 4UL
(If you build a depth in foreign language through individual exams/courses, I do not know if they have to be all in the same language.)

Psychology, Sociology and Business are other areas in which tests can be used to fulfill a depth, but I don’t know enough about them to give examples.

Graduates and almost graduates, please add more ideas. Thank you!

[TMW2010]

:ack: Whoops, I messed up on that. Texas and NAP are quite correct. The depths indicate 'disciplines or subject areas'...

Texas, your original assessment of the depth requirements are correct. I apologize about that. TBH I never really looked at them because I'd found out that I could use my old MIS credits as an AoF and I was going for an Psych major anyway.

Sorry... banghead
-T

[texassprite]

It is my understanding that depths are not general, like Social Science or Natural Science, but are somewhat more specific, like Sociology, Psychology, Biology. Since you might not have a major, they are looking for some depth in 2 areas of study.

Thanks for the clarification. After my last post, I went back to read a post where I'd asked a similar question a long time back. Long story short, I called Excelsior to clarify, and they did say that a depth would be something more specific like Pyschology, History, or Math. While I had them on the phone, I did also clarify that my Gen Ed could count towards a depth.

Okay maybe we could get a list started to give some good ideas of what a depth looks like.

Thanks for getting the ball rolling. I think this would be helpful for a lot of people. It gets hard to pick all the information out of the forums.

Texas, your original assessment of the depth requirements are correct. I apologize about that. TBH I never really looked at them because I'd found out that I could use my old MIS credits as an AoF and I was going for an Psych major anyway.

No prob!

[TMW2010]

To add to the topic

Psych can be done with
Intro to Psych CLEP
Intro to Educational Psych CLEP
Lifespan Development Psych DSST
Abnormal Psych ECE
or Lifespan Developmental Psychology ECE
or Psychology of Adulthood and Aging ECE
or Research Methods in Psych ECE
or Social Psych ECE
(Be careful of credit duplication here... )


Sociology can be done with
Intro to Sociology CLEP
Intro to Law Enforcement DSST
Fundementals of Counseling DSST (?)
Criminal Justice DSST
or Cultural Diversity ECE
or Juvinile Delinquency ECE
or Foundations of Gerontology ECE
or World Population ECE