My first post- advice on path to complete my degrees in Biology and Insurance?

[cookderosa]

Hi guys,

I've been lurking around for a bit and finally decided to register because I think I have some questions!

A little background: I'm a manager at an insurance agency and would like to make a change from an incomplete biology degree to business. I'm 37 hours short of completing my bachelors from a local university. I eventually intend to complete my CPCU designation for insurance, which I know can give some hours as well in the future.

I am looking at Excelsior College because they offer a natural science degree (which I would like to complete since I'm soooooo close) and a business degree for risk management and insurance. My eventual goal is to go for either an MBA or MSIM (MS in Insurance Management, Boston U. offers it purely online).

I was trying to see, based on the courses I still need to complete, if anyone has any advice.

Here is what I know I need so far, going from a biology major to business.

Natural Science (bio focus)
Capstone course
Evolution course
Ecology course
Plant course (like plant anatomy or botany)
Anat. and physiology course

I only need the capstone and 34 more hours if I went the NS way without a major. I already completed pre-calc, stats, chemistry 1+2, organic 1, physics 1, and multiple sciences like cell biology and molecular genetics.

Business with RMI focus
Capstone course
Financial Accounting (CPCU course can complete)
Managerial Accounting
Business Law (CPCU course can complete)
Principles of Marketing
Production management/operations management
Risk Management (CPCU course can complete)
Risk Financing or Risk Control (CPCU elective can complete)
Principles of Insurance (CPCU course can complete)
Computer Literacy
Macroeconomics (already completed micro)
Business Ethics
Organizational Behavior


I know there are ECE's for a LOT of these courses, but I don't know if those are necessarily the *right* exams to take. I'd like to get through this as fast as possible to go for a graduate degree. I'm thinking since I only need 37 hours and 15 hours are all I need for a NS Bio major, then I should go for the majority of the business ones either for the degree or to complete requirements for the MBA or MSIM.

My questions here are these:

1) Is there a place where I can get online exams for the remaining biology hours? EC does the A&P but not the evolution, ecology, or plant anatomy. I don't know where to go in order to find these.
2) Where SHOULD I go for the remaining hours in the business? I'm looking to pass as quickly as possible; I already have enough hours for a decent GPA (mid 3.4 range) without worrying about people seeing a lot of pass/fail courses.

Once the degrees are done I'm going to complete the CPCU designation (8 courses total) which waives the GRE/GMAT requirement for the colleges I am looking at and provides some graduate hours as well. The CPCU even provides some coursework for some of these hours for undergrad, which I've noted above. I can complete the CPCU early if that is the best decision to get the hours done like with the accounting coursework, though since it is insurance-specific accounting I think I need to take the accounting 1 course and then accounting 2 and move forward from there. All of the CPCU courses give UL coursework according to ACE, so if I completed all 8 then I have 24 hours of UL coursework.

Any feedback would be GREATLY appreciated. I feel I have enough here to know where to start but I want to make sure I'm not overlooking something completely obvious first.

I'd like to spend some time thinking about a good reply for you, because you're asking a very complected question. I have a lot of random thoughts, but all of them come back to the same thing: your plan is very expensive in time and cash. I think there are several ways to streamline your plan into a single degree and focus on speed so you can get into grad school (which doesn't allow for speed or saving $). Since an MBA would be the most closely related to your work, I'd suggest looking at removing all obstacles that are in the way of admission.

Before I say anything else to you, I'm 9 credits short of a natural science degree. There they sit. Earned but unused in another degree. So I UNDERSTAND. At the end of the day, it boils down to a few things in the sciences. Upper level credit that is offered online (and that may require lab credit) costs a lot of money. Budget around $1000-$3000 per lab class you need. I earned my sciences AFTER my Social Science degree as a means of meeting prereqs for the various health programs I was considering. I will tell you that when I calculated the cost of my additional course/exams necessary, I was going to plop down another $7000 minimum. That same $7000, I decided, would be better served toward my very expensive grad degree. And, that's where it is. That science degree wouldn't have gained anything but ego strokes, I got in grad school without it, and I don't need it for my job. Something to think about.

Your sciences could EASILY complete an upper level portion of a liberal arts degree. If you used the remaining credits you're short by filling with the double-dip social science business set (micro, macro) and your electives for the others (marketing,etc) I think you are actually closer to a liberal arts degree in time and cost, because your lacking credits can be hit with CLEP (100/200) instead of upper levels. I'm most familiar with the programs at TESC, but someone can plug your courses into an EC plan and see if they get the same results. Just roughly thinking about a TESC plan for you, I think you could finish your BA by summer's end and apply for an MBA fall start.