Empire State College

[retake]

http://www.esc.edu

Most everyone takes some amount of CLEP/DSST credits, but why would you use Empire for that? It makes no sense.

If you want to take courses at empire, that is fine. But do yourself a favor and enroll in EC and consolidate your Empire and testing credits there. Like I said above, they had an advantage before the internet, but now there are many alternatives to them that cost less and are quicker. The big three are the leaders in this now.

Last I recall, your first semester at Empire is a course to plan your degree. 15 weeks later you can then get started. You could do your own planning and have 7 CLEPs (21 credits) out of the way in that time for around the same amount of money.

These days planning does not require an adviser or mentor for the most part. Just download the degree requirements and post them on your refrigerator. Do your own planning by drawing lines through each subject completed by exam. (You can buy a nice Rolex with the money you save!)

One other thing about Empire is that you have to do lots of writing in subjects that don't normally call for it.

I need lots of graded credits to sit for the CPA exam in my state. I'm CLEPing out of most, if not all, of the gen-ed credits though. Plus, I never really liked the idea of "shopping for credits". It may sound stupid, but I'd prefer to get it all done at one college. I'll be taking two years worth of courses to get my bachelors degree completed when I'm finished with the CLEP/DSST exams.

Plus, the graduate degree programs that I'm interested in require 60 graded credits anyway. Excelsior doesn't have many courses to choose from, and I don't like the name (stupid, I know). As far as 7 CLEP's in 15 weeks goes, I'm averaging one every 4-5 weeks, but I'd rather over-study than under-study.

Troy is my first choice and I plan on applying after I take the Humanities CLEP. However, because they don't have an open admissions policy like the Big 3, I need a backup school. I can't take courses at Excelsior, because they don't offer a variety of the courses I require. TESC is swamped with students and a hassle to deal with. That pretty much leaves Charter Oak.

[malcs]

I need lots of graded credits to sit for the CPA exam in my state. I'm CLEPing out of most, if not all, of the gen-ed credits though. Plus, I never really liked the idea of "shopping for credits". It may sound stupid, but I'd prefer to get it all done at one college. I'll be taking two years worth of courses to get my bachelors degree completed when I'm finished with the CLEP/DSST exams.

Plus, the graduate degree programs that I'm interested in require 60 graded credits anyway. Excelsior doesn't have many courses to choose from, and I don't like the name (stupid, I know). As far as 7 CLEP's in 15 weeks goes, I'm averaging one every 4-5 weeks, but I'd rather over-study than under-study.

Troy is my first choice and I plan on applying after I take the Humanities CLEP. However, because they don't have an open admissions policy like the Big 3, I need a backup school. I can't take courses at Excelsior, because they don't offer a variety of the courses I require. TESC is swamped with students and a hassle to deal with. That pretty much leaves Charter Oak.

If that is the case, I would go to a regular state school. Courses like accounting are better taught there. In my opinion a degree from Empire is on a lower rung that Excelsior. Excelsior degree requirements are an exact match with their B&M counterparts. Empire degrees vary all over the place with life experience credit, homemade courses, etc. I had a nightmare equivalencing my Empire courses to standard ones when I transferred to Excelsior.

Good luck!