BS in Psychology - Cheap and Fast (and dirty)

[mysonx3]

I think what people are getting at with regard to grad programs is that doing a Bachelor's this way won't stop you from pursuing a Master's in Psychology, but it might take certain schools off of the table if they have admissions requirements you wouldn't be able to meet (e.g. you have to have a certain GPA on certain pre-requisite classes). But since not all schools do this, you would still have options for a Master's.

[Merlin]

If you want to look into a masters program, and there is a specific school you want (or need) to attend for licensure reasons, you may want to investigate the admissions requirements first and then build your bachelor's degree around meeting the admissions requirements for that master's program. Some programs require a certain amount of graded credits or a certain GPA, for example, and you won't earn either via testing or ACE/NCCRS courses.

[turborelaxation]

Thanks everyone for the helpful replies. Are any of you aware of a school that would fulfill the needs I was asking about to get a masters, or what types of things I’d want to google to find out more about it?

Edit: Saw school of the people, I’m going to pur together a rough outline and come back to thjs. Thanks again.

[sanantone]

To be honest, the University of the People program is not really good for anything except for maybe qualifying for a higher pay level if your school or district recognizes nationally accredited schools. The program is not designed to qualify one for a teaching license because it doesn't have a student teaching requirement. If you just want to teach English overseas, then all you need is a bachelor's degree. 

If you want to become a licensed professional counselor or licensed mental health counselor, there are a lot of online programs in counseling for that. You might want to search for ones accredited by CACREP because some governments might require it. If you want to become a psychological associate/assistant/technician, you'll need a master's in psychology that meets the credit hour requirements inacted by your state. If you want to become a marriage and family therapist, you'll need a master's with a focus in marriage and family therapy that is accredited by COAMFTE.

You can provide psychotherapy with a master's in social work; the program needs to be accredited by CSWE. While social work programs don't provide the best preparation for counseling, it is the most flexible degree.

[turborelaxation]

To be honest, the University of the People program is not really good for anything except for maybe qualifying for a higher pay level if your school or district recognizes nationally accredited schools. The program is not designed to qualify one for a teaching license because it doesn't have a student teaching requirement. If you just want to teach English overseas, then all you need is a bachelor's degree. 

If you want to become a licensed professional counselor or licensed mental health counselor, there are a lot of online programs in counseling for that. You might want to search for ones accredited by CACREP because some governments might require it. If you want to become a psychological associate/assistant/technician, you'll need a master's in psychology that meets the credit hour requirements inacted by your state. If you want to become a marriage and family therapist, you'll need a master's with a focus in marriage and family therapy that is accredited by COAMFTE.

You can provide psychotherapy with a master's in social work; the program needs to be accredited by CSWE. While social work programs don't provide the best preparation for counseling, it is the most flexible degree.

Thanks for this info. I have no greater ambition than a BA. I’m also aware that only a BA is needed to teach english, sometimes not even that. However, I’m trying to set myself up in a sort of open ended way if I do decide to pursue a masters.

[LadySearchDog]

I am going down the same road as the poster. I am wanting to do most of my classes free via testing out. I then will transfer the last minute to Wichita State University to fulfill the minor in American Sign Language also doubling as my foreign language requirements and capstone requirements. This will give me the ability to have most of my credits earned at one of the big 3, but allowing myself to receive a ba in psychology from Wichita State University. ( a more recognizable school).
Any advice befor I enroll at one of the big 3 and start testing out of my classes? Is that all I have to do is enroll in a big 3 and pay for the test and test out? Making sure only 90 credits which are only transferred allowed at WSU ,and I meet the capstone requirements at WSU? Thanks!

[sanantone]

I am going down the same road as the poster. I am wanting to do most of my classes free via testing out. I then will transfer the last minute to Wichita State University to fulfill the minor in American Sign Language also doubling as my foreign language requirements. This will give me the ability to have most of my credits earned at one of the big 3, but allowing myself to receive a ba in psychology from Wichita State University. ( amore recognizable school).
Any advice befor I enroll at one of the big 3 and start testing out of my classes? Is that all I have to do is enroll in a big 3 and pay for the test and test out? Thanks!

You don't need to enroll in one of the Big 3 to test out. You need to attend a school that accepts alternative sources of credit. Wichita State is likely not going to accept credits off of a transcript that's not from the original source. You're going to have to send your CLEP, DSST, and other scores directly to Wichita State University. The Big 3 transcripts will make it clear where your test-out credits came from. You can, however, take TECEPs from TESU and Uexcels from Excelsior, and you don't need to enroll for that.

Without checking, my guess is that Wichita will only let you transfer around 75% of your credits.

---

This is their credit for prior learning page.

https://www.wichita.edu/academics/adult_...ng/FAQ.php

[Merlin]

I am going down the same road as the poster. I am wanting to do most of my classes free via testing out. I then will transfer the last minute to Wichita State University to fulfill the minor in American Sign Language also doubling as my foreign language requirements. This will give me the ability to have most of my credits earned at one of the big 3, but allowing myself to receive a ba in psychology from Wichita State University. ( amore recognizable school).
Any advice befor I enroll at one of the big 3 and start testing out of my classes? Is that all I have to do is enroll in a big 3 and pay for the test and test out? Thanks!

FYI, if you're looking to enroll and test out of a "Big 3" degree, I hope you understand that means you'd be graduating from one of the "Big 3" colleges, not Wichita State. There is no way to earn credit by testing out and use the "big 3" to transfer credits to WSU to complete a degree. Well, not unless WSU also accepts those alternate credits, in which case there is no reason to involve the "big 3" schools to begin with.

People mistakenly get the impression that there is somehow a way to launder alternate credits through TESU/COSC/Excelsior, but that isn't the way college credits work. Each school requires original transcripts from each source of credit. The reason why the "big 3" are important is that they will accept so many sources of transfer credits, and will allow you to transfer in everything but the capstone (and maybe a cornerstone) course needed to graduate.

For example, lets say you test out of a bunch of courses towards a BALS from TESU, and then send your TESU transcript to WSU. That transcript will show only courses you take directly from TESU. None of the alternative credit courses would appear on the TESU transcript (or will show where they originally came from) since they were not earned at TESU. Credits transferred toward a degree work like any other college credits. They still "belong" to the school where you earned them, not the school that accepts them.

The exception might be if you get an AA from one of the "big 3" using alternate credit. If you send your transcript to WSU after that, you may be able to get WSU to waive your Gen Eds if they accept a block transfer for the AA, but that is unlikely. Most schools will still want to see original transcripts from each school or credit provider and will evaluate courses individually. If they don't accept CLEP or ACE or whatnot, you're still out of luck.

The only other option would be to get a bachelor's degree from one of the Big 3 and then go on to WSU (or wherever) to get a masters degree. In that case, your bachelor's degree is a credential that allows you to pursue a higher degree but doesn't guarantee acceptance or that the degree will meet any requirements. They may still ask you to take foundational courses if they don't accept the alternate credits.

This latter option is what I'm doing, for example. I'll be starting a master's program in the Spring.

Hopefully, that clarifies things for you.

[LadySearchDog]

- sananton do you know how many Alternative source of credit ( aka, testing out) WSU will take?

- Merlin I wanted to get into the play therapy master course at WSU. Undergrand means nothing to me in where I get it, but being approved for a good masters or PhD program does. I keep on hearing not many gradschools take these online ba schools mentioned in this thread. I keep on hearing that.

[sanantone]

- sananton do you know how many Alternative source of credit ( aka, testing out) WSU will take?

- Merlin I wanted to get into the play therapy master course at WSU. Undergrand means nothing to me in where I get it, but being approved for a good masters or PhD program does.  I keep on hearing not many gradschools take these online ba schools mentioned in this thread. I keep on hearing that.

Refer to the link in my post above. WSU has no limit on alternative sources of credit, but you still want to check to see which CLEPs, DSSTs, etc. they accept if you decide to earn your bachelor's degree there.

WSU is not a very selective school, and it's ranked pretty low. Regardless, graduate schools don't really care where you earned your bachelor's degree from as long as it's from a regionally accredited school. What you should focus on are your grades and preparing for the GRE.

I've gotten into multiple graduate programs at traditional schools. One is ranked #29 in my field, and the other is ranked #35 in the nation.