1st Bachelors' Degree at EC, 2nd at TESC?

[alix]

I am currently pursuing a B.S. in Psychology at EC and have started considering getting a second degree (B.A.) in Art from TESC. I'm looking for advice or input from anyone who has tried something similar.

EC makes sense for me for my Psych degree because I can earn up to 30 credits from teh Psych GRE. They have worked with me a lot with my transfers and I'm pleased with the plan. TESC seems to be the choice for Art, however. EC doesn't offer ART, and TESC will take 200 series classes as upper level (unless I misunderstand something). This means I might not have to spend as much money on the studio art classes that I will need to take locally for my degree requirements.

What I'm curious about is whether this sounds feasible and if there are any potential challenges that I should take into consideration. I would go ahead and apply to TESC, but because I won't be done with EC until next June, I'd rather wait until I have more robust transcripts to show TESC for evaluation.

I welcome your thoughts!

Best regards,
Alix

P.S. My career path involves both psychology and art, thus the desire for both degrees.

[Sowak777]

"P.S. My career path involves both psychology and art, thus the desire for both degrees."

How so, if I may ask?

[CLEP101]

Instead of two Bachelors, why not get your EC Psychology Degree and then go for a Masters in the Arts. You'll still have the degrees in the subjects you need, except one will be a Masters. Even better don't you think?

[cookderosa]

Instead of two Bachelors, why not get your EC Psychology Degree and then go for a Masters in the Arts. You'll still have the degrees in the subjects you need, except one will be a Masters. Even better don't you think?

>>


This is my exact recommendation as well.

I didn't use to, but I currently think two bachelor's degrees are redundant and add time/money without return. Your looking at a minimum of 30 credits from TESC for the second degree as well as a few thousand dollars and maybe 2 semesters or longer since there are no CLEP/DSST exams that will fill the requirement. This is a bigger issue also in the fact that you may have additional liberal arts requirements going from a BS to a BA. You may be short (you'll need 60).

A bachelor isn't really a master of subject matter. If a job requires depth of knowledge, you need a masters in order to get that level of expertise (and two bachelors don't make a masters).

I would make one personal suggestion, and that is to swap the order CLEP101 suggests. Get your BA in Art and your Masters in Psych. If you REALLY want to specialize, use your doctorate to pull back your psych and art disciplines into one subject.

The reason I suggest art as your bachelors is that you can continue to study and or practice art away from college- that is very accepted. Psychology, however, is very credential-focused. A bachelor's degree in psych is the number one major in the USA, you won't be considered qualified in any aspect of psychology until you complete a master's at a minimum.

[CLEP101]

>>

I would make one personal suggestion, and that is to swap the order CLEP101 suggests. Get your BA in Art and your Masters in Psych. If you REALLY want to specialize, use your doctorate to pull back your psych and art disciplines into one subject.

The reason I suggest art as your bachelors is that you can continue to study and or practice art away from college- that is very accepted. Psychology, however, is very credential-focused. A bachelor's degree in psych is the number one major in the USA, you won't be considered qualified in any aspect of psychology until you complete a master's at a minimum.

I totally agree with this, the only reason why I suggested the Psychology Degree first is that she's already pursuing it. Do you think it would be that much of a hassle to switch degrees now? Or would it make any difference because she would end up taking pretty much the same classes either way?

[alix]

BTW, I am female.

After this, my plan was to attend graduate school to get my master's in counseling with a specialization in expressive arts. Prerequisites to the graduate program include various courses in psychology/statistics, so the psych degree wasn't going to be wasted. Down the road, for art therapy certification, I need a certain number of studio art hours and a strong portfolio, in addition to art therapy and psychology courses. I researched this in depth a while back. The B.A. in Art would not be required, but since I am already taking the studio arts classes for future certification, I thought I would enjoy putting them to a purpose.

However, I am now considering switching my graduate program to Transformative Arts, which is not counseling-based, but combines healing with art and also, with an extra year added for teaching credentials, opens up opportunities to teach. Which now means I need some more specific art courses that, coincidentally, are required for a B.A. of Art.

I know that no one cares what your B.A./B.S. is in, with a few career exceptions. But I actually enjoy what I learn, so I care.

Thanks for the feedback, everyone!

Alix

[CLEP101]

BTW, I am female.

Alix

Sorry
Correction made.

[kayausa]

I'm finding this really informative. I have a friend that I think is really cut out for art therapy and she's doing her BA through tesc, she has about 10 credits in art and is cleping psych...
From your research what are the standard prereqs?

[cookderosa]

BTW, I am female.

After this, my plan was to attend graduate school to get my master's in counseling with a specialization in expressive arts. Prerequisites to the graduate program include various courses in psychology/statistics, so the psych degree wasn't going to be wasted. Down the road, for art therapy certification, I need a certain number of studio art hours and a strong portfolio, in addition to art therapy and psychology courses. I researched this in depth a while back. The B.A. in Art would not be required, but since I am already taking the studio arts classes for future certification, I thought I would enjoy putting them to a purpose.

However, I am now considering switching my graduate program to Transformative Arts, which is not counseling-based, but combines healing with art and also, with an extra year added for teaching credentials, opens up opportunities to teach. Which now means I need some more specific art courses that, coincidentally, are required for a B.A. of Art.

I know that no one cares what your B.A./B.S. is in, with a few career exceptions. But I actually enjoy what I learn, so I care.

Thanks for the feedback, everyone!

Alix

>>

I hope you didn't think I suggested that no one cared what your undergrad degree is in. I didn't know what transformative arts is, so I googled it. I found a lot of programs that were masters in transformative arts. It is decidedly "art" rather than "psychology." (so the Art degree seems like a good fit)

When I made my earlier suggestion, I didn't understand your goals.
You mentioned getting a master's in counseling, which I do know a bit about, and I know this sounds odd, but a master's in psych isn't the best road into these grad programs. Counseling programs are human service areas and many have strict requirements for entry- including field work and supervised clinicals. Have you looked at the MA Transformative Arts programs?

I'm just throwing out my two cents, please don't think I'm trying to suggest you reconsider your goals.

I do think you should use the web to locate professionals in the field doing exactly the type of work you are wanting to do- THOSE people will really be able to give you the best suggestions.

[cookderosa]

Edit:

I see what you wrote about considering the MA Transormative Arts, so ignore my question