Hey all!

I'm a super noob so I apologize in advance for any mess ups.

The long story short is that I've been working in IT for about 15 years. I have a senior level position but am worried about long term stability and the industry in general.

I am considering a career change to become a police officer in a local department. After 5 years the pay is comparable to what I make now and it is unionized with pension.

The one requirement I don't have is 60 college credits.

The requirement doesn't specify you need a degree, just 60 credits. What is the fastest way I can get 60 credits on my transcript? I know people say TESC will accept 27 raw FEMA credits, I have an MCSE from Microsoft which looks like another 10 credits from TESC.

What would be the easiest and fastest cleps, etc. to accumulate the credits. I don't even care if they are for related degrees right now (although that would be best as I would most likely finish the degree).

I just need my transcript to say 60 credits.

Thanks in advance for your help and I look forward to getting to know all of you.

Well--it seems to me that taking some of the six credit CLEPS could get you there pretty quick. Now--I don't know if TESC honors the following for six credits--but Excelsior does so there's at least some chance that TESC does as well. You could start with Analyzing and Interpreting Literature, for which there is not a lot you can do to prepare anyway. Other CLEPS that may be worth six credits include:

American Literature
Humanities
Social Sciences and History

If you can speak French, Spanish or German--you may be able to get 12 credits for passing one of those CLEPS if you score high enough.

So--let's assume you knock off A&I Lit and two of the other six credit CLEPS. That'll get you within five credits or so of 60 if your calculations prove to be correct. Given your line of work--you should be able to knock off CLEP Information Systems and Software Applications as well as DSST Intro to Computers and that'll give you 61. If you signed up for InstantCert, you could probably get yourself ready for things like CLEP Management and DSST Supervision in a very short amount of time if you wanted to try those two instead of something like Social Sciences and History. How does that sound?

__________________
Michael

CLEP - ISCA 68, Sociology 72, Psych 73, A&I Lit 61, HG&D 65, Ed Psych 70, Marketing 72, Management 69, Macroeconomics 63, Microeconomics 67
DSST - Intro to Comp 66, MIS 61, Supervision 67, Counseling 58 - no study!, Personal Finance 67, Statistics 60, Criminal Justice 57, Ethics 58, Finance 63 (All A's at EC)
COC - 2007 (Community College) - Acctg I&II 10c, Work/Study 4c, Intro to Research (Info Lit req) 1c, Society and Rock & Roll 3c, Fund of Music 3c, Guitar I & II 4c, Bass Guitar I 2c
ECE - Ethics (A), HRM (B), Organizational Behavior (B) | CSU - Operations Mgmt. (A) | TECEP - Business Policy 80 (CR)

My Excelsior Degree Journey

Bachelor of Science in General Business, cum laude
Excelsior College
.

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I'll piggy-back Michael's post to confirm that TESC does award 6 credits each for those exams, but the CLEP and DSST mentioned will duplicate credit, so only choose 1. There is, however, a DSST MIS exam which does not duplicate, so just add that in it's place and your all set.
P.S.
There are also 2 you might like instead of one of the 6 credit exams. Intro to Law Enforcement for 3 credits and Criminal Justice for 3. If it were me, I would rather do those two than the humanities exam, but I'm not an art person )

__________________
Jennifer
In progress
Anatomy and Physiology 2 w/Lab
Introduction to Chemistry w/Lab
ALEKS/DSST Statistics 46% so far, not far enough!

Summer Term
General Chemistry 1 w/Lab
Microbiology w/Lab
General Biology 1 w/Lab

BSN, Nursing, Trinity College of Nursing & Health Sciences, expected, 2012
BA & AA, Social Sciences, Thomas Edison State College, 2008

How to do your own Unofficial Evaluation http://www.degreeforum.net/general-e...ighlight=alpha

"Brick walls are there for a reason....They’re there to stop the other people.” Randy Pausch

EC awards 30 credit for a GRE subject score above the 80th percentile-under that and they drop 3 credits per 5%.

TESC awards I think 18 for any score over 40th percentile, you will need to confirm for which subjects. Pysch is prob the easist of the tests and IC has flash cards covering Intro to most of the higher levels, should be cake to do 40th percentile.

Test are gonna be 10/18 and then a couple weeks later in November. Costs 130,study hard and take it.. (they also have one for comp sci and other stuff).

Because all you need to do is show 60 credits and not a degree,you should prob use one or both of the TESC or EC credit banks, I think they are like 250 each ? rather than enroll for a degree, if you score high enough on the GRE then get it credited by EC,if not you can throw it on TESC.

TESC 27-fema 10-mcse 18-GRE 6-A&I lit...61 cost about 460

EC-TESC...30 GRE..27 Fema...6-A&I lit...about 710 (460=extra 250 for EC credit bank)

Heck youd be 1/2 to a degree at TESC.

Heck, if they're asking 60 units anyway, why not just do an AS in Liberal Arts at one of the Big 3? That way, you have a nice diploma for your efforts whether or not the job pans out. . .

Blitzstudie, TESC does not award credit for any of the GRE Subject Exams. You are getting them confused with Charter Oak who does award credit at the 40th%.

__________________
CLEP exams passed:
Management, Accounting, Marketing, Macroeconomics, Microeconomics

DSST exams passed:
Human Resources Management, Organizational Behavior, Statistics, Management Information Systems

Earned:
B.A. in Business Administration: Technology Management (magna cum laude) from Saint Leo University

In Progress:
M.S. in Leadership: Business Ethics from Duquesne University (27 credits completed)

Well I am always the first to say my advice is worth what you pay for it...dont know if CO has a Credit Bank or if there is a way to xfr it..so maybe the only way to go is EC for the GRE..at least you can explore it.

I started my testing-out 6 weeks ago and have gained 31 credits. Let me share the easiest

Management Information Systems - 3 (used Instantcert - DSST)
Civil War and Reconstruction - 3 (used instantcert - DSST)
First Aid and Safety - 3 (Saturday course at Red Cross)

You could gain these 9 credits in one weekend.

THEN, if you speak a language there's 12
ELSE, study hard and hit the GRE (biggest bang for the buck)

That will inch you closer!

I should also mention two other exams that come to mind that might help:

1) English Composition with Essay CLEP. 6 credits and meets the written English requirement at TESC.
2) ICCP IS-Core Exam. 6 credit, ACE approved exam. There's overlap with the MIS/Computer Info Systems on it. I don't think it meets any requirements per se, but it would allow you to earn another larger chunk of credits.

THIS SOUNDS AWESOME