Hoping for some input, just starting down this yellow brick road...

[keithk]

I hate to start another "noob" thread , is there a central thread that I missed to ask for advice? Might help the "clutter" for you old timers that get tired of the guidance counselor questions

I keep skipping around the forum trying to take in all the info and I feel like I have ADD with all the questions I have and trying to match posts and answers to my questions!

I was originally happy to just use IC as help to study for my 30 CLEP credits allowed at a local community college, but after realizing what can be achieved by testing out of courses and by going to one of the big three after reading up on this forum, I'm trying to formulate my plan of attack.

My first problem is that I'm not quite sure exactly what job I want to aim to get (funny how many of us lose the ability to figure that out once we get past the age of 5...maybe I should have stuck with veterinarian!).

I've done IT work from 1996-2000 and Transportation Logistics from 2000 to present, but I'm burned out and looking at a career change and I'll need a degree to make the move. I'm married with two young children so self-paced studying is very attractive, especially since I've never been much of a fan of slow-paced class learning on top of the ridiculous tuition costs for college.

Some points:

• I am an ex-Navy Nuclear Machinist's Mate so I'll be able to get some help with credits from that (the exact amount I'm not clear on just yet, I believe I read some nuke's getting up to 80-90 credits while others received closer to 50 depending on the degree they chose to try for).

• I feel Finance/Economics/Accounting is where I should be, so I'm thinking of BSBA in Finance or Economics from TESC.

• I think I should aim for a CPA and/or MBA once I've completed my Bachelors.

Just a couple of questions:

1.) I'm going to submit my Navy transcripts to TESC shortly. Do I need to decide on a degree 1st? Meaning, does the $75 only pay for the evaluation of your credits towards one degree of your choosing in advance, or can I play around with it and choose different degrees and see how my Navy credits would fit into that plan?

2.) To those of you who used one of the big three as a shortcut to an MBA, any idea how important it is that I choose a "respected" college if I go that route pertaining to Finance/Accounting/Economics? I know that's down the road a bit, but I would like to plan ahead. I live near Michigan University but the MBA program there is a whopping $95,000. I have Eastern Michigan nearby as well and that would be closer to $15-20k, but I'm all for different routes if it's not a name game with MBA's.

Thanks for any help,
Keith



BTW, for anyone like me who is having problems trying to figure what you might excel in, I found this link to be helpful (available after free registration):

The Princeton Review Career Quiz

The test was very simple, but it nailed me down pretty good, or at least what I thought I'd be good at in the past. Some job listings that came up for me:

Careers from The Princeton Review Guide To
Your Career linked to "Yellow" interest:


# Accountant/Auditor
# Actuary
# Astronomer
# Bookkeeper
# Court Reporter
# Dental Lab Technician
# Economist
# Financial Aid Officer
# Financial Analyst
# Foreign Exchange Trader
# Health Care Administrator
# Office Manager
# Sommelier
# Surveyor
# Corporate Lawyer
# Business Valuator
# Financial Planner
# Internet/Intranet Technologies Manager
# Geneticist
# Hospital Administrator
# Quality Assurance Engineer
# Research Technician
# Small Business Owner
# Systems Administrator
# Systems Analyst
# Venture Capitalist/ Investor
# Auditor
# Consultant
# Food Service Manager

Each career can be clicked and it will take you to another page with lots of good info on that job.