BS in IT degree Plan and Advice

[Greggy_D]

Thanks for the catalogs! I'm curious to see how Excelsior will let you use Microsoft, CompTIA, etc to fill their IT requirements. It doesn't look like they give specific examples as to what IT test fulfills which exact class/requirement. This is what scared me away initially from this degree.

[Kaz]

Hello everyone,

Bachelor of Science in Information Technology degree with a Concentration in Network Management though Excelsior College. However, my questions are:

1. Can I use the FEMA credits for my free electives and how many electives will I have for a BSIT degree?
2. Will they accept the “D” I have in Sociology I heard someone mention that their “D” was accepted?

My game plan is to complete my degree within the next 3 months if not sooner, but I want to make sure that I’m not duplicating additional classes. Here is what I was planning to take within the next few weeks. Please let me know if you have any suggestions or a better game plan. Like most I need a degree NOW and will take any advice that will help me get there sooner. I look forward to your advice and comments.

My first step is to sign-up for instantcert.com

Week 1 (6/25): Take CCNA exam and Principle of Marketing
Week 2: (7/1): Take Principle of Management and Principles of Supervision
Week 3: (78): Take U.S. History II: 1865 to the Present, Principles of MicroEconomics and Principles of MacroEconomics

This should give me enough time to get my preliminary evaluation transcripts back from Excelsior, because it’s a little difficult to know what CLEP’s to take.

Here are the credit hours I currently have:

Microsoft MCSE: Aprox. 13 Credits

Franklin University
MIS300 MGMT INFO SYSTEMS A 4.00
BSAD Business Law B 4.00

Santa Fe Community College
MATH1003 Basic Math A 3.00
PE Lifetime Sports A 2.00

Columbus State Community College
SPCH100 Speech Communication A 3.00

Oklahoma Junior College
Bus1013 Introduction to Business B 3.00
PSY1043 Strategies for Success B 3.00
ACC1013 Principles of Accounting B 3.00
ENG1013 English Composition I C 3.00

Roger State College
CS1213 Intro Comp Prog A 3.00 (Over 10 years old)
HIST2493 US from 1865 B 3.00
MATH0113 Elementary ALG C 3.00

Tulsa Junior College
CSC2363 Data Comm. A 3.00 (Over 10 years old)
CSC2991 Disk Oper Sys P 1.00 (Over 10 years old)
CSC1344 COBOL C 4.00 (Over 10 years old)
CSC2303 PASCAL C 3.00 (Over 10 years old)
SOC1113 Intro Sociology D 3.00 (I heard someone said that “D” was accepted)

Hello!

I'm a newb to this myself, so take this with a grain of salt:

1. - Do what Greggy_D said and send in your $75. You don't have a lot of time and they are obviously the final say on your credits.

2. - You need to meet the Humanities and Ethics requirements. That is 9 credits total. Your "SPCH100" class is 3, that should leave 6. I don't know if your "Lifetime Sports" class would be used for this but it's only 2 credits, so you'll probably need 2 "courses" worth of Humanities either way.

3. - You need more Math / Natural Sciences. You need 12 credits including picking from their list. You only have 6 credits and, from what I can tell, neither of your math classes fulfill the "Discrete Math" requirement. You need at least 2 "courses" here too.

4a. - You really have to be careful you don't wind up with duplicative credit with all those industry certs. All Sun, Cisco, and ICDL in the assessment catalog are lower level. ~72% of CompTIA are as well. I know there's four or five PAGES of MS certs there but most of them are there for legacy. You need Excelsior to give you definite answers on specific certs for your situation, which they will probably only do after they get your $75.

4b. - Can you really pass that many industry certs in a couple of months? Frankly speaking, if you had all those certs you would be sitting pretty regardless of a degree.


My opinion is that you get the application in ASAP and line up a CLEP/ECE/etc. or two that "diversifies" you a little bit. You are all IT and Applied Professional. At least be prepared to have to tackle a 6 credit CLEP in Humanities and/or Natural Sciences soon. Good luck!

[sgloer]

Hey kaz, welcome to the board and nice first post!

[tvelasquez]

Kaz, Welcome and Thanks very much for the excellent feed-back. Also I applied to Excelsior and will start studying next week for Humanities and Science CLEP’s, after I sit this week for the CCNA and Principle of Marketing.