Help Me Stay On-Track

[gRoland]

gRoland,

Have you thought of mixing in some Straighterline courses for at least the gen ed requirements? It isn't testing out, but not quite as rigorous as a regular course.

TESC also offers a bachelor's to master's program. switching schools might not be the answer, but it is worth taking a look. Bachelor's to Master's Program

How are you scheduling your courses? Maybe load up one semester and then the next take either easier courses or a reduced course load. it may drag out the process (which i'm not a fan of doing), but it sounds like you are in a marathon and not a sprint.

I have heard about Straighterline. I've not seen much in the way of feedback from people who have actually taken the courses, so I've been hesitant to go that route.

I hadn't seen TESC's bachelor to masters program, but taking a quick look at their site it's something I'll look into when I'm closer to the 60-credit mark (which appears to be what they require)

As far as scheduling, this summer I'll only be taking one course, due to my workload and travelling...I've alternated a bit between a light load and overloading myself. I may have to just alternate to avoid burnout.

Strikes me that if your not looking to test out and cost isn't a big factor...then why choose EC, or any of the Big 3? Since your looking to take classes there are perhaps hundreds of schools that will have better name recognition and be competitively priced. What are your options in Texas?

I think separating the bachelors from the masters makes a lot of sense...those don't have to be married, and separating them will open up more choices.

I chose Excelsior for couple of reasons (I did look at others). With my work, and the travel that goes into it, and the often long hours, I needed a school that was 100% online. I wanted a school that wouldn't make me retake the ACT/SAT, or some proprietary school or state test just to gain admittance -- at the time I just wanted to start. Plus, the degree options had to be something I was open to (criminal justice is a common online degree but not something I was interested in, for example). I was less concerned about name recognition, though I did set base criteria when looking for schools (had to be RA, not for profit). Those things narrowed the field a bit.

As far as separating the two degrees, as mentioned earlier the program has the option to get the bachelor's once you reach that point, and break from the masters. So I'm not necessarily tied to the masters. However, it was a factor in choosing the schools, because it potentially saves me credits and I also don't have to worry about the GMAT/GRE when I reach that point.