BS Business Degree Plan Help

[cbosdell]

Hey Guys,

I've been browing this site for a couple years now but I haven't really posted before now. I could use some input on my degree plan.

I finished my Associate in Arts degree from a local college this past May. I had 66 credit hours of which 21 were CLEP exams.

I got laid off from my job back at the end of June so that put my college plans on hold for a while. I have another job now and am ready to get back to working on my Bachelor's degree.

I'm leaning towards Excelsior's BS Business in General Business degree. (But if anyone thinks another college would better suit me, TESC perhaps?)

Long-term my goal is to possibly get into a management position of some-sort, probably in government (I currently work in local government), possibly in the tech/it/mis field. I plan on getting various computer certifiations after my Bachelor's to augment it.
I already have the following requirements out of the way from my AA degree:

* COMPLETED Written English Requirement (Eng 101 - English Composition) - 3/3
* COMPLETED Humanities Requirement (English Literature CLEP, Eng 160 - Technical Communications) - 9/9
* COMPLETED Social Sciences/History Requirement (Eco 210 - Macro, Eco 211 - Micro, His 101 - Western Civ I, Western Civ II CLEP, American Government CLEP) - 15/15
* IN-PROGRESS Natural Sciences/Math Requirement - 3/6
........College Algebra CLEP
* IN-PROGRESS Remaining Arts and Sciences Credit - 20/27
........Soc 101 - Intro to Sociology
........Soc 102 - Marriage & The Family
........Psy 201 - General Psychology
........Ast 101 - Astronomy - 4 Credits (Will Excelsior accept all 4 hours of credit? This was a lecture/lab that met two days a week)
........Sci 150 - Forensic Science - 4 Credits
........History of the US II CLEP
* In-PROGRESS Additional Credit Component - 7/14
........Acc 101 Accounting Concepts
........Col 101 College Orientation
........Freshman College Comp CLEP (Eng 102 - 3 Credits)
* IN-PROGRESS Business Component - 9/45
........Financial Accounting - Acc 101
........Managerical Accounting - Acc 102
........Computers - Cpt 101

And here is what I still need:

DSST Principles of Statistics (I've already begun studying for this but I'll admit I'm a little discouraged. Math is not a strong point nor is memorizing formulas. :/) <- Natural Sciences / Mathematics Requirement
DSST Intro to Business <- Additional Credit Component

CLASS Information Literacy
CLEP Introductory Business Law
DSST Business Law II <-Advanced Business Requirement Course

CLEP Principles of Management
DSST Principles of Supervision <- Additional Credit Component
DSST The Civil War and Reconstruction <- Remaining Arts and Sciences Credit
CLEP Principles of Marketing
DSST Human Resource Management <- Advanced Business Requirement Course
DSST Ethics in America
DSST Principles of Finance
DSST Money and Banking <- Advanced Business Requirement Course

DSST Organizational Behavior
TESC Operations Management or CSU Class MGMT 311
DSST Management Information Systems <- Advanced Business Requirement Course

DSST Criminal Justice <- Additional Credit Component
DSST Intro to Law Enforcement <- Additional Credit Component
CLEP American Literature <-- Remaining Arts and Sciences Credit
CLASS Business Policy
CLASS Capstone

Am I missing anything here? Any advice on the order, etc? Should I go ahead and pay the money to apply for admission and let them sort out what I still need to take?

It's honestly been about a year since I really looked into all this so I'm sure I'm missing stuff and I don't even know if my list is complete.

Thanks! =]

[Yenisei]

With TESC, and I would imagine with EC as well, you can get credit for some certs in the CIS/IS area of study/area of focus, or perhaps as electives. It seems to me that you might want to consider getting a business degree with an CIS/IS specialization if you are planning to get certs anyway.

[FinancialWorld]

Just to let you know, BS in General Business (administration) is one of the most common degrees out there. As far as I know, this is a very general degree. If you want to be a step ahead, try BSBA in finance, or accounting etc. This gives you a little more of an advantage.

I can't say whether to go with EC or TESC because I don't know very much about EC. I'm attending TESC right and can give a full run down on them =)

[Yenisei]

A BSBA in Accounting or Finance probably isn't that useful for public sector work as an IT Manager. I say go for a BSBA in CIS/MIS.

[burbuja0512]

Or.... do the general management and try to set yourself apart with a masters.

I also wanted to mention that if you don't want to test out of statistics, you could probably do ALEKS. I didn't need it, but I've seen others here using ALEKS for it.

[FinancialWorld]

@Yenisei. Good catch, I didn't see that. BSBA in CIS/MIS would be good choice.

@burbuja0512. That might be a good idea. I've thought about getting a master myself, but I would want a good BSBA degree to work as backup (just in case I don't finish a masters program). I'm really not sure, either way sounds good.

[ryoder]

Consider the cis degree since a lot of cis courses can be taken at Penn foster which isn't super cheap at over three hundred per course but the content is very doable.
I would immediately take the intro to computers clep, dsst mis test, take marketing, management, intro to business and principles of supervision.
I'm coming from a tesc background here so keep that in mind.
Tesc also has a network tech tecep that is very doable for an it person with some study.
Pm me if you need more info on tesc cis.

[burbuja0512]

One other comment... if math (statistics) isn't your strong point, you may want to look at COSC. Statistics was not a requirement for me and I got by with just my CLEP college math. I think COSC has the lowest math requirements for a business degree. BUT it's just a business concentration if that matters to you.

[ridin8ude]

Just want to point out that in most major corporations the IT function is still tied to Finance.

Having a Finance degree with IT knowledge/background can be a very powerful combination once you work your way up the ladder.

Going purely with an IT degree can be limiting unless you plan to supplement with an MBA at some point in the future.

Still any degree is better that no degree so if the general business is the fastest degree and path of least resistance; once you have experience behind you most of the time it won't matter what degree you have as long as you have one.

*stepping off soap box now*

[cbosdell]

Hey Guys,

Thanks for all the great replies. I reallly appreciate all of them.

I'm still considering a masters down the road but right now I just want to get rolling on this Bachelors and get it under my belt and see where it takes me.

I am going to look further into TESC (and Penn Foster) and look into COSC. I'm also going to look into Aleks as a possible option for Statistics as it seems a lot more doable for me.

So much to consider, hopefully I'll have it all decided soon and get to work on my degree.

I do have one more question though. Once I decide which school I'm going to should I just start to work on the degree or should I apply and get an evaluation so I know exactly what I have and need. Is it worth the money upfront?