I'm not sure where to begin.

I should start with a big thank you to everyone on this forum and to InstanCert. Thank You.

Just a quick and condensed background to explain why I'm getting this degree. I'm 46 years old. My brother, mother and sister all died within twelve months of each other a few years ago. My father is my only surviving immediate family and he lives in Florida. We don't have any family here. My wife is from Florida and moved to NY with me when we got married in 1988, so I could take over a family business. She has all her family still in Florida. Long story short - I found out in Feb. that "we want to move to Florida". I sold my business and bought a house (with mortgage) in Hudson FL and we are moving the day after school is out.

So now I have a wife and two kids to support, with the help of my RN wife. She already has a job starting July 2nd - so that helps. I think I want to teach, still not sure - but a degree will help no matter what! With a BS in Psychology I can get a temporary teaching certificate in FL to teach 6-12 grade social studies.

In the middle of March I decided I needed a degree. My brother retired from the Coast Guard and got his degree through Excelsior.

I found out about the GRE subject Exams and the only one available was April 14th and I had missed the registration deadline. I found out about standby and took the test. I only got to study for a week, overslept and got there late (luckily she let me in). I lucked out and got a 610 which gave me 15 credits and took care of the two Psych requirements that don't have tests.

I started with 64 credits from Ole Miss and the Air Force (24 credits from DLI, 12 upper 12 lower with a P grade). My starting GPA - 1.70, with five D's .

Then I read BAin4weeks and found InstantCert. I sold my business on May 1st.

First thing I did was get 7 easy credits through FEMA.

Using almost exclusively IC:

May 9th:

DSST Intro to Business 68 - A
DSST Prin of Supervision 62 - A
DSST Personal Finance 70 - A

May 16th:

DSST Drug & Alcohol Abuse 63 - A (maybe those years @ Ole Miss helped here )
DSST HTYH 62 - A
DSST Intro to Law Enforcement 66 - A
DSST Criminal Justice 57 - A

I took the IL in here.

May 25th:

DSST Statistics 63 - A
DSST Intro to World Religions 62 - A
DSST General Anthropology 54 - B (Statistics wore me out )

The World Religions, Anthropology and 3 credits from the GRE will duplicate and get rid of three of the D's from Ole Miss.

I currently have 117 credits of which 108 apply to the degree. I still need four UL ECE Psych exams before I move on June 23rd. If I can get four A's I should be able to graduate with just over a 3 GPA. I need a 2.5 for teaching cert if I go that route for employment. I took DSST's because they get letter grades.

This forum has helped me. That is why I wrote this, so others can see how do-able this can be.

Thanks again,
Doug

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Pirate Dog Knives

Fantastic story! How inspiring! I'm still amazed how people can take 3 or more tests per day, especially in different subjects. This is not only a testimony to yourself, but also a testimony to the value of IC. Please keep us posted.

(Sorry to hear about your family's passing.)

Doug,
Fist off, welcome to the forum! It sounds as though you are on the right track and will meet your goal very shortly. Today, there was a discussion on upper level Psych courses that you may need; please read the posts below this one. They are every doable with IC and A's are definitely a possibility; especially looking at the grades you've been earning thus far.

Please keep us in the loop on your progress and ask any question you may have, that’s what we're all here for; to learn and help each other out. Please be sure to search the forum using the “Search Function" as many questions have already been asked & answered. This will save you time and reveal the answer you seek, immediately.

Welcome again and good luck in your quest. Lee

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Associates Degree, Aviation Maintenance Technology, Community College of the Air Force
Bachelors of Science, Liberal Studies Degree, Excelsior
MBA Human Resource Management, California Coast University

Wow, Doug, you aren't playing around. Keep up the great work!

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--
Steve, Webmaster

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Brian R. Fey Sr. +
M.S. - Psychology
B.S. - Criminal Justice
A.S. - Administrative Management

Thank you all so much.

I can see the light at the end of the tunnel for the degree. I've been so busy selling the business, trying to get our house sold, packing for the move and studying that I haven't really thought much about getting a job. I've been self employed for twenty years. I'm kind of freaking about a job search, I don't mind working, just never had to look for a job .

One of the reasons my wife wanted to move to Florida, because of all the unexpected deaths in my family, was to be closer to hers before something happened to one of them. Her 70 year old father had a massive coronary and died last Sunday. What's the saying... If it weren't for bad luck we'd have no luck at all!

Looking for a fresh beginning in Florida. My kids, 11 & 12 are excited about moving south and being near some family.

I'm not 100% sure that I want to teach. What the heck kind of a job would someone with 20 years experience running a small business and a BS in Psychology be qualified for anyway?? Could I get a job at a big box retailer? A gov't agency? Just so much going on that it's hard to think.

I have 26 days!!

Thanks again,

Doug

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Pirate Dog Knives

How did you prepare for the 63 in Stats?

BTW, an A in Abnormal Psych, Adulthhod and Aging and Research Methods can be achieved with IC alone.

Thanks steelers.

Stats was the only test that I suplimented at all. I used IC and I also bought the CliffNotes for Stats at Barnes & Noble.

I also got a TI-30XIIS calculator and searched for a few sites that gave some limited instruction in it's use for statistics and probabilities.

When I came to something in IC that I didn't get, I would try to figure it out in the CliffNotes. I just tried to grasp a concept at a time. It was definately the hardest test yet, but not terrible. I'm glad it's over .

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Pirate Dog Knives

You may want to check out the teacher incentive programs that many county's offer. They will pay for your education if you sign a contract to teach in their district. I believe that Pinellas and Hillsborough may still participate; I'm not sure about Pasco....

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Brian R. Fey Sr. +
M.S. - Psychology
B.S. - Criminal Justice
A.S. - Administrative Management