BS in Psychology - Cheap and Fast (and dirty)

[turborelaxation]

Hello! I am a new poster and have been searching the forum for a few weeks for concise information. I read through and found my way to the mirror of the Wikia, which was very helpful. I am new to concepts related to higher education, so finding valuable information amongst the forum posts was a challenge. There is a lot of acronyms and terms being thrown around. So, being that there seems to be no shortage of helpful posters, I thought I’d ask directly.

I want to know the fastest and cheapest way for someone with no college experience to get a BS in Psychology! Preferably in a manner that breaks things down for me. From what I understand the process is basically to:

1. Find school that offers degree I want (preferably Big 3 for ease of use?)

2. See what credits are required for degree

3. Find cheapest and simplest way to fulfill those credits (including free credits etc)

4. Apply to chosen school

5. Transfer credits

6. Capstone??? (No idea what this even is!)

7. Degree

Thanks much to anyone willing to guide me a bit on this. I’ll take any and all help even if it is links to other older posts that I missed.

[Merlin]

Hello! I am a new poster and have been searching the forum for a few weeks for concise information. I read through and found my way to the mirror of the Wikia, which was very helpful. I am new to concepts related to higher education, so finding valuable information amongst the forum posts was a challenge. There is a lot of acronyms and terms being thrown around. So, being that there seems to be no shortage of helpful posters, I thought I’d ask directly.

I want to know the fastest and cheapest way for someone with no college experience to get a BS in Psychology! Preferably in a manner that breaks things down for me. From what I understand the process is basically to:

1. Find school that offers degree I want (preferably Big 3 for ease of use?)

2. See what credits are required for degree

3. Find cheapest and simplest way to fulfill those credits (including free credits etc)

4. Apply to chosen school

5. Transfer credits

6. Capstone??? (No idea what this even is!)

7. Degree

Thanks much to anyone willing to guide me a bit on this. I’ll take any and all help even if it is links to other older posts that I missed.

For the most part, your list is correct. However, unless you're looking at one of the Big 3, your next steps may be more challenging. Particularly if you plan to transfer in a lot of non-traditional courses like the ones we tend to focus on here on this forum. Most schools have restrictions on the number of transfer credits allowed (90 is typically the max for a bachelor's degree) and those usually need to come from an accredited college or university. The Big 3 will allow you to transfer up to 117 credits towards a bachelor's degree.

If your goal is to move quickly, you'll be looking at non-traditional credits via CLEP, DSST, ACE, or NCCRS recommendations. The number of schools that accept those credits, particularly in large quantities, is tiny. This is why the Big 3 are so important. We also tend to suggest WGU; they don't allow as many transfer credits as the Big 3, but they accept a lot, including CLEP and ACE. They also have affordable tuition and you can move through the coursework quickly if you have relevant skills and/or experience.

Of the big 3, TESU (Thomas Edison State University) is the most popular and well-understood of the schools on this forum. Degree plans for a TESU Psychology degree are floating around, and there are people here who can help you customize one to your particular goals.

As for the rest, a lot will depend on what existing credits you have, where they are from, and whether you have enough to warrant an evaluation. We usually recommended that people apply early so they can see where existing credits fall in a chosen degree plan. However, if you're looking at TESU, you only get two free evaluations when you first apply. So if you're coming in with no (or few) existing credits, applying early isn't that useful.

The capstone is a requirement for graduation. Each degree has its own capstone which is specific to the learning outcomes for that degree. It cannot be transferred in, so must be taken directly from the school. In addition to the capstone, most schools/degrees will require a cornerstone as well. The cornerstone sort of functions like an orientation course. The one for TESU can be completed in a few hours, and registering for it will enroll you in the school officially.

Hopefully, that answers some of your questions and provides a starting point to ask others.

[mysonx3]

Does it have to be a BS or will a BA in Psychology work for you? If BA works, here's a roadmap that a user on here created for TESU's BA in Psychology:

https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/JS...1st,_2015)

[jsd]

Does it have to be a BS or will a BA in Psychology work for you? If BA works, here's a roadmap that a user on here created for TESU's BA in Psychology:

https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/JS...1st,_2015)

To piggy back on mysonx3, most Psych degrees are BAs. It's not particularly difficult to find a BS program in the field, but they are usually BA. I can't think of any situation were your choice of BA vs BS would actually matter in this field though.

[turborelaxation]

Thanks to merlin, myson, and jsd for the prompt and informative replies. I admit that I don’t actually know the difference between a BS and BA, and just got the title idea using information I’d pieced together from other topics. I’m glib on all higher education related topics.

1. @jsd I saw your lesson plan on the Wiki mirror and though helpful, I wasn’t (as of yet) able to make much sense of it. I also read that your plan didn’t include general education and saw a link to another plan that covered that. Still I’m a bit confused but haven’t had the time to sit with the plans.

2. As a general question, is less than a year a reasonable timeframe of completion for someone who works full time? I’m a great test taker and am talented with scholarly pursuits, though I gave it up after high school. I’m 26 now.

3. If I sought further education and an eventual career as a teacher or therapist or similar, is a TESU BA going to maintain it’s value, or will I end up in a position where I lose credits by transferring into a state school/b&m?

Thanks again all. I appreciate the tenacity and self sufficiency that something like this would require, I just would prefer to ask questions directly to cut through the chaff.

[MNomadic]

Thanks to merlin, myson, and jsd for the prompt and informative replies. I admit that I don’t actually know the difference between a BS and BA, and just got the title idea using information I’d pieced together from other topics. I’m glib on all higher education related topics.

1. @jsd I saw your lesson plan on the Wiki mirror and though helpful, I wasn’t (as of yet) able to make much sense of it. I also read that your plan didn’t include general education and saw a link to another plan that covered that. Still I’m a bit confused but haven’t had the time to sit with the plans.

2. As a general question, is less than a year a reasonable timeframe of completion for someone who works full time? I’m a great test taker and am talented with scholarly pursuits, though I gave it up after high school. I’m 26 now.

3. If I sought further education and an eventual career as a teacher or therapist or similar, is a TESU BA going to maintain it’s value, or will I end up in a position where I lose credits by transferring into a state school/b&m?

Thanks again all. I appreciate the tenacity and self sufficiency that something like this would require, I just would prefer to ask questions directly to cut through the chaff.

1) once you take a look at some of the gen Ed plans, I recommend you look into Clep and modernstates first. You mentioned you are a good test taker and cleps are free(at this time) through modern states. There are other free and cheap resources available to help prepare for CLEPs. Another great place to start would be the free ace approved ethics course through the institutes since it is fast, free and an easy way to satisfy the tesu ethics requirement.

2) less than a year is in the realm of possibility but you really won't know until you start knocking out credits. Depending on how much time you can devote and how fast you can complete them.

3) I honestly don't know. You may be able to jump straight into a master's program after your BA or not. It would really depend on what the requirements for the programs you're interested in are. Without knowing specifics on your end goal or desired program, we won't know.

[sanantone]

If you're going to become a therapist, you're going to need a master's degree. You wouldn't be able to transfer credits from a bachelor's program.

If you decide you want to become a teacher, there are post-baccalaureate and master's programs that lead to licensure.

[MNomadic]

That's a link to the free sources of credit including the free ethics course.

https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Fr..._of_Credit

[turborelaxation]

So, once getting a bachelor’s degree completed, I’d be free to move on to the next step (a masters?) and there would be no concern of credit equivalencies, transfers, etcs once I clear that threshold for a BA

I don’t have much of any plan set up for myself besides knowing that I would

1. Like to complete this degree to teach overseas

2. Ideally set myself up for further education if I choose to in the future

3. Like to do this by the books and don’t know much about it besides what I’ve previously stated. Not to say I’m incapable of finding more out myself, only that some of the comments are hard for me to decipher because they require all types of knowledge to follow. Thanks again, I just learn best with a lot of context

[MNomadic]

So, once getting a bachelor’s degree completed, I’d be free to move on to the next step (a masters?) and there would be no concern of credit equivalencies, transfers, etcs once I clear that threshold for a BA

Yes you would be free to move on to a master's after your BA. Credit equivalency and transfers wouldn't be the main concern, admissions requirements would be. Different programs within different universities will have different admissions requirements. Without knowing which program from which university ahead of time, there's no way to know exactly what you would need. You may want to look into master's programs that are pretty flexible on admissions. If you're looking into teaching, wgu may be a good place to look. If you want to teach overseas, the master's in education from University of the people may be good enough for you.