Excelsior BS Gen. Business roadmap critique

[dharmachic]

Hi,

I would like your critique on my EC General Business roadmap. I'm getting close to finishing up my credits and will be enrolling at Excelsior to take my Business Strategy class and graduate soon. My plan was to obtain as many letter grade credits as possible through DSST/ECE exams and community college courses (to save $$) for GPA and graduate school purposes.

I've used EC's business catalog and student's guide to assessment to help me, and would like your input as to whether I'm on the right track. I would hate to discover that I needed a few more credits at the last minute, and although I know this isn't a substitute for the official evaluation, more eyes the better.

I have a combination of classes I took as a freshman long ago and my paralegal certification classes, which I have included here. All classes were from regionally accredited colleges.

I also need some guidance on timing: I'm taking ECE Org Behavior and Microeconomics class right now. Next up will be Operations Management and Business Strategy.

I know that EC will hold onto transcripts for about 6 months. When should I start requesting transcripts to be sent to EC and when should I officially enroll? I would like to graduate next year.

Any feedback is welcome and thanks for your help! IC and these forums rock!

Helen

[skyfall123]

I know that EC will hold onto transcripts for about 6 months. When should I start requesting transcripts to be sent to EC and when should I officially enroll? I would like to graduate next year.

Your plan looks great! Excellent GPA I found the Excelsior Business Team to be very responsive. I would enroll when you are about to begin your final Business Strategy course from Excelsior. In the meantime, I would not hesitate to call or email the business team directly, if you have specific questions about timing. From what I recall there were 6 conferral dates each year, and about a 2 month lag from degree completion to degree conferral. In other words, if all coursework for degree is completed by mid November then your conferral date would be January.

busteam@excelsior.edu

[dharmachic]

Thanks for your tips! The end is within sight!

[barcotta]

I have a combination of classes I took as a freshman long ago and my paralegal certification classes, which I have included here. All classes were from regionally accredited colleges.

I also need some guidance on timing: I'm taking ECE Org Behavior and Microeconomics class right now. Next up will be Operations Management and Business Strategy.

I know that EC will hold onto transcripts for about 6 months. When should I start requesting transcripts to be sent to EC and when should I officially enroll? I would like to graduate next year.

Any feedback is welcome and thanks for your help! IC and these forums rock!
Helen

Well, that a really freakin' impressive streak you have going on here. Nice work. I took a look at your plan and the only items that jumped out at me were the Freshman Seminar--Critical Thinking, Choir and Elementary Voice. If you have a transcript that lists them as a 1XX class (as opposed to a 0XX class or no number at all) then they may take them. Otherwise, they may not. Fortunately, it's not a lot of credit so you don't have to rely on any of them.

With regard to timing, I would enroll as soon as you know you are within one year of graduating. I can't tell from your message exactly when you anticipate graduating next year. Since you are taking some classes--you have to be a little more careful than those of us who used testing as our primary source of credit. In any event, you want to allow some time to smooth out any rough edges that may occur due to transcript irregularites, misunderstandings, reevaluation requests etc. I don't anticipate much, if any of that for you, but there's no reason not to get in early. I didn't send in my transcripts until I was ready to enroll but I know others have. I try to stack the odds in my favor and I figured that they would be more able to easily track my transcripts and credits if I was an enrolling student. If $$$ is an issue, use the POAG membership (a search on this forum will reveal this method if you haven't come across it already).

Otherwise, you can use the links in my signature to find my degree plan along with my feedback for some of the exams and courses you have remaining. Good luck!

[dharmachic]

Barcotta, thanks for your advice. I don't have a set graduation date, just as long as it's within a year of my enrollment. I checked out the POAG membership details. The discounted fees look sweet, but the required 12 course credits look like to be a dealbreaker for me. I really have only 4 more courses to take, so if I decide to go this route, I'd have to take all of them at EC.

I ran the numbers and it looks like the difference is greater than $1000, in favor of just paying the regular fees and testing out of Org Behavior. Of course, I would qualify for financial aid then, but since I'm cashflowing the rest of my education costs, I'm not looking to get any more loans and my income makes it difficult for me to qualify for grants. What I'm curious about is if there are any new education tax credits that I can take advantage of, that may make EC courses more appealing. I just need to get a better picture of the entire situation...

Helen

[barcotta]

Actually--I should have said that you should consider POAG if CASH FLOW was a problem. I don't think it's a good deal generally--but it's a good way to defer your enrollment expenses. This way--you get in for $150 instead of $1000 and you don't have to pay the balance until you are ready to graduate.

[dharmachic]

Gotcha. That's actually not a bad plan, since I'm using a sinking fund to set aside money from every paycheck and not facing the enrollment fee early on would definitely help me cash flow better.

Thanks a lot!
Helen

[skyfall123]

Excelsior Undergraduate Pay Your Way Payment Plan

https://www.excelsior.edu/Excelsior_Coll...ment_Plans