Bad news, Everybody!

[wb.john]

I’m glad we have been having this conversation. I think it has been very helpful.

WB.John – If they receive your BYU transcript before they do your unofficial evaluation, they may include it in the evaluation. I took a test during the 3 weeks that I was waiting for my unofficial evaluation. They received the score the day they did the evaluation and it was included!


Funny! This was news to me, so I thought you would like to know about it, too.

To Kaz, WB.John, and others with Math/Computer Science interests,

While I was looking at some alternative plans, I found this post about Mercy College. They offer an entire Math major and Computer Science major through online courses. I think it is $700 per credit. Until TMW2010’s post with Idaho’s upper-level math courses and seeing this information about Mercy, I did not know that these high level courses were currently available through online or independent study.
I see 3 options:
1. Go to Mercy to get the major. (probably not)
2. Take some of the courses and transfer to EC to complete the Math major (if needed after Math GRE). (maybe)
3. Know that courses are available and look for more. (most likely)
(Independent study with a proficiency exam – Math GRE - is still the best option for me, but it is nice to see that it may be possible to complete a math major with less than an 85th percentile on the GRE.)

Mercy College post: DegreeInfo Distance Learning - online degree forum - View Single Post - Calculus 2/3 online

Also, I found some information in the same thread which could help me with learning several levels of Calculus for the Math GRE. I have not investigated further, but it looks promising. DegreeInfo Distance Learning - online degree forum - View Single Post - Calculus 2/3 online

I am already looking forward to your Math GRE feedback!

Good find.

In the event that I can't use the GRE at Excelsior, my secondary plan is Empire State College. (Assuming I can still use the GRE there) It will take a little bit longer and it will be more expensive, but I can probably get financial aid. The SUNY brand is certainly more attractive to most peoples' eye. I'm not sure how to handle the 32 credits issue though.

But really, I should be able to enroll before July 1st.

I sent an email last night and Excelsior has already removed ALEKS and NFA from the expected incoming transcripts. This is much better customer service than BYU.

[NAP]

WB.John - I agree that we should be fine at EC now and won't need alternative plans.

I also thought of you when I saw the Individualized Studies Concentration at Charter Oak. It looks like it would blend the Math GRE and Computer Science GRE credits pretty well, assuming they will still be giving credit for them.

Sorry, I forgot the link - Individualized / Liberal Studies Concentration (Major) at Charter Oak State College

[Kaz]

Good stuff! Yeah, I only found out about Mercy this week. It was during my freak-out over this GRE issue when TMW2010 mentioned the Idaho courses. It got me goin' and I did some digging to see what upper level math classes were out there. That's how I found Mercy.

I don't want to turn this thread into a math major thread though, since it's on the subject GREs at Excelsior in general. When I have more of the dust settled on my end I think I'll scour degreeforum and degreeinfo for all the math major related posts. I'll try and put that together with my own searching and see if we can cobble together non-GRE Big 3 mathematics major degree plans. Hopefully that process will reveal avenues that are more optimal than others.

[alix]

Even though Excelsior cleared me for taking the Psych GRE in October (I've been enrolled for a while), in the time I had to come up with options, I decided to switch to a B.S. in Liberal Studies instead of pursuing a B.S. in Psychology.

Originally, I looked into this option because it would be cheaper than the non-GRE option for a Psych major. I can finish a Liberal Studies degrees with exams alone, but I can't do that for Psych without the GRE. But then I realized more benefits, namely, that I could graduate sooner. Of course, it is more expensive to take what for me is 8 more exams (though not as expensive as taking psych classes that have no corresponding exams). But going with Liberal Studies gives me the chance to apply to grad school for Spring (deadline is November 1st), versus waiting until Fall of 2011.

So, perhaps for me this ended up being the push that sent me in a better direction. Go figure!

[mccoy24]

Hey everyone (first post here!), I have a little bit of info to shed on this matter.

I took the GRE for psych in April planning on using it for credit. I had not enrolled previously, so undoubtedly this thread got me nervous. I immediately submitted an application and received the following information: None of the six advisors I spoke with knew anything about a GRE policy change. They knew of the Capstone requirement coming up, but nothing about GRE's. (they very well could not be allowed to talk about it, however).

After telling an advisor I was still a little nervous about hypothetically not being able to enroll in time due to the transcript mailing and eval process, she said I could waive the initial eval, enroll within a week with no credits under my name and secure the current policies as long as I do not have a re-enroll event. Since the policy would be set, I could receive full gre credit even after a policy change if it were to happen.

In the end, I felt I studied way to hard and this is too good of an opportunity to take any kind of chance. If you are sure you want to use GRE's through Excelsior, it may be wise to err on the side of caution by enrolling asap without the 3-6 eval process.

[NAP]

Kaz - I am looking forward to reading about the information you find for a math major.

......So, perhaps for me this ended up being the push that sent me in a better direction. Go figure!

Alix - This is great! In a strange way, it has given all of us a chance to re-evaluate what we want and how to get it.

McCoy24 - Welcome to the forum! Thank you for sharing this information with us. I hope that using the GRE option works out perfectly for you.

[NAP]

To MomofMany, BrandeX, and others deciding whether to take the GRE -

This is all still very new, but when you decide how you would like to move forward, I hope you will share it with us.

If you need some help with brainstorming for a plan, please let us know.

[blu2blu]

This is a message I received from Excelsior in response to the GRE question...

"In regards to your question concerning our acceptance of GRE Subject Exams towards Excelsior College degree requirements, there is much discussion at this time regarding the possibility of our college discontinuing the acceptance of these exams towards our degree requirements. Nothing is know for sure right now. However, I might highly suggest that you officially enroll in Excelsior College before July 1, 2010 if you wish to have GRE credits considered towards your degree requirements. If you do enroll before this date, our college should be able evaluate the Psychology GRE towards your BSL degree even if you haven't already taken the exam. We presently award GRE credit based on a graduated scale according to your score. I expect that this will still be the case for students whom enroll before this date. We will continue to accept Clep, Dantes and Excelsior College Exams towards degree requirements. You would want to enroll and have the official evaluation of your credits and then receive official exam approvals from your Academic Advisors in the School of Liberal Arts before actually taking any exams."

So it looks like as long as you ENROLL before July 1st you can still take the exam after that date and still be awarded the credit.

[Ruddigore]

This is a message I received from Excelsior in response to the GRE question...

I wonder if there is any chance that they will keep the GREs but simply change the way credit is given. It would be more than a pity if they were to drop them. It's one of the things that makes EC unique -- and the main reason why I chose EC over TESC.

The optimist in me never dies.

[MomOfMany]

To MomofMany, BrandeX, and others deciding whether to take the GRE -

This is all still very new, but when you decide how you would like to move forward, I hope you will share it with us.

If you need some help with brainstorming for a plan, please let us know.

Well I'm bummed bc I had everything to study and was getting into it the last month and I've now decided to pass it onto another.

I think I've decided to study towards an Associates in Arts or Science. I'd like help in figuring out which one of those I could test out of the most from where I am now. I could use the encouragment from making that milestone, kwim?

I plan to continue on to a BS or BA in liberal studies, english, or history.

I'm currently planning to study A&I lit and US hist 1 with my boys. Just waiting for my amazon order to arrive.