Fastest degree for me? Changing lanes from WGU

[schematic_dreamer]

Your Location: North Carolina
Your Age: Old
What kind of degree do you want?: Management, Marketing, Pre-law, Psychology, Liberal Arts
Current ACE, CLEP, or NCCRS Credits: AA/AS in General Studies, 3 (Study.com) 3 (Sophia), several AP
Budget: 6k-ish
Dedicated time to study: 15-20 hrs a week (young kids at home but I wake up very early)
Timeline: 6-9 months


Hello!  I have been reading these threads for a bit.  I thought I had my path all planned out, but I just got humbled and would like some help!  

Longterm goal:  MA in Marriage and Family Therapy  (likely from Northcentral University)

Short-term goal:   Fast Bachelor's

My original plan was the Bachelor of Science, Business Administration Marketing- it seemed fairly quick and interesting.

Where I messed up:  WGU is only accepting 36 out of 72 credits.  I misread their transfer policy and thought they would take a significant amount more, but that is only if I had my AS in business (I have it in general studies).

So bummer!

I am now thinking Excelsior or TESU and would appreciate any recommendations!



From 25+ Years Ago:

AA/AS General Education from Maricopa Community College:
(All As or Bs)
ARH100- Intro to Art- 3
ART131-  Photography I-  3
CHM151-  General Chemistry I-  3
CHM151LL-  General Chemistry I Lab-  1
ECN131-  Macroeconomic Principles  - 3
PED115-  Lifetime Fitness-   2
BPC110-  Computer Usage & Applications- 3
COM225-  Public Speaking- 3
ENG102-  First-Year Composition-  3
FON241-   Principles of Human Nutrition-  3
PSY240-   Developmental Psychology-3
MAT182-   Plane Trigonometry- 3
POS220-  U.S & Arizona Constitution-   3
REL243-   World Religions-   3
THE111-   Introduction to Theater-  3

I also transferred  19 AP credits into my AA/AS:


English-   5   (6 credits in English)
Biology-  4   (4 credits)
Psychology- 3  (3 credits)
US History-  3  (3 credits)
World History-  3  (3 credits)

From 2 weeks ago:

Communications 301 (Study.com- still waiting on my paper)
Project Management  (Sophia)



I have been spending 15-20 hrs a week studying.

I really like the format of Study.com and Sophia.   Study.com-  takes me about 1 week to finish a class, Sophia in half a week.

I would prefer to avoid writing as much as possible.  I can do it, it just adds a lot more time vs testing.

[rachel83az]

I would not suggest Excelsior. There are several reasons for this:
1. If you choose a Business degree, there are only two ways to meet the second half of the 6-credit requirement for English/Writing. The first is taking the Business Writing course from Excelsior. Not cheap. The second is taking a course from Coopersmith. Coopersmith isn't expensive/difficult, but they use ProctorU and that just doesn't work for a lot of people.
2. Excelsior seems to be rejecting ACE credit at random. See https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...ia-courses Different degree program than what you want, but still concerning. There is no good explanation for why they'd do that.
3. Excelsior has started charging $300 for each subsequent transcript evaluation after the first. That cost could add up quickly if you're not able to nail everything down on the first go. Most students seem to need to send in transcripts at least two or three times.
4. Not as important as the previous points, but Excelsior requires 30 UL credits. 6 of those come from their capstone & cornerstone. It can sometimes be difficult to find sufficient UL credit in the right areas to get an Excelsior degree.

I would honestly choose UMPI. Even if you're slower in writing papers than in taking exams, it should still be faster than TESU. At 1-2 weeks per class, you'd likely be finished in 2-3 sessions (4-6 months) after enrollment, which would be similar to WGU. And faster than either Excelsior or TESU. We have degree plans to help you maximize credit transfer and get your degree more quickly: https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Category:UMPI You have science covered, so the most important class you could take now for UMPI would be Spanish I at Sophia.

That said, if you'd prefer TESU (which would be the most expensive of the lot), I'd recommend applying and sending in your transcripts as soon as possible. Pay for the Medical Terminology TECEP ($52), but don't take it. This unlocks full enrollment and unlimited evaluations. Once you have your initial evaluation complete, you can use https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Sa...ts_Roadmap to fill in the gaps. You have sufficient RA credits that you don't have to worry about their RA credit requirements.

With TESU, you could get multiple degrees and certificates at once for not much more time/effort - provided you planned well in advance. For instance, you might like to get the Psychology certificate with your Marketing degree: https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Sa...Psychology The Operations Management certificate is relatively easy for any BSBA student to obtain: https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Sa...Management - only a couple extra classes are needed.

[origamishuttle]

While I agree with Rachel that UMPI can be relatively fast, there are definitely some advantages to WGU, especially if you prefer tests over papers. Even with papers (PAs at WGU), there is a system for doing them quickly, something along the lines of:

1. Scaffold out the headings based on assignment description and rubric.
   
2. Quickly write each section, not worrying about accuracy, grammar, etc.; just write.
   
3. Revise as needed (quickly).
   
4. Rewrite with Grammarly until there are no remaining suggestions.
   
5. Submit.
   
6. If revisions are needed, address the specific sections, highlight the changes, and resubmit.
   
7. Unlimited attempts!
   

Check out this post:
For Anyone in the Business Admin Management Program (Recap: 90 CU's in 90 days) : WGU (reddit.com)

Also see the partners pages, as there are probably some courses you can knock out quickly at Sophia and Study.com:
Study.com
Sophia

[schematic_dreamer]

I would not suggest Excelsior. There are several reasons for this:
1. If you choose a Business degree, there are only two ways to meet the second half of the 6-credit requirement for English/Writing. The first is taking the Business Writing course from Excelsior. Not cheap. The second is taking a course from Coopersmith. Coopersmith isn't expensive/difficult, but they use ProctorU and that just doesn't work for a lot of people.
2. Excelsior seems to be rejecting ACE credit at random. See https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...ia-courses Different degree program than what you want, but still concerning. There is no good explanation for why they'd do that.
3. Excelsior has started charging $300 for each subsequent transcript evaluation after the first. That cost could add up quickly if you're not able to nail everything down on the first go. Most students seem to need to send in transcripts at least two or three times.
4. Not as important as the previous points, but Excelsior requires 30 UL credits. 6 of those come from their capstone & cornerstone. It can sometimes be difficult to find sufficient UL credit in the right areas to get an Excelsior degree.

I would honestly choose UMPI. Even if you're slower in writing papers than in taking exams, it should still be faster than TESU. At 1-2 weeks per class, you'd likely be finished in 2-3 sessions (4-6 months) after enrollment, which would be similar to WGU. And faster than either Excelsior or TESU. We have degree plans to help you maximize credit transfer and get your degree more quickly: https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Category:UMPI You have science covered, so the most important class you could take now for UMPI would be Spanish I at Sophia.

That said, if you'd prefer TESU (which would be the most expensive of the lot), I'd recommend applying and sending in your transcripts as soon as possible. Pay for the Medical Terminology TECEP ($52), but don't take it. This unlocks full enrollment and unlimited evaluations. Once you have your initial evaluation complete, you can use https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Sa...ts_Roadmap to fill in the gaps. You have sufficient RA credits that you don't have to worry about their RA credit requirements.

With TESU, you could get multiple degrees and certificates at once for not much more time/effort - provided you planned well in advance. For instance, you might like to get the Psychology certificate with your Marketing degree: https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Sa...Psychology The Operations Management certificate is relatively easy for any BSBA student to obtain: https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Sa...Management - only a couple extra classes are needed.

Super helpful, thank you!

• That is more than a shame about Excelsior.  I was looking at their Liberal Arts degree and hoping I could take whatever study.com classes I was interested in, and fill in all the spaces.  But if they are randomly not accepting stuff, then that is a no-go.
  
• UMPI-  I have some distrust of them just because of the 'Surprise!  You are enrolled=  no more transfer credits.'  Seems more than a little tricky, is that a one-off and not reflective of them in general?
  
• TESU.  I had thought this school was one of those you could transfer in 113 credits, is that not the case anymore?  Is the main problem that even with the Liberal Arts degree there are so many UL credits you can't find enough on study.com?
  

At this point I am feeling like-  maybe I will go ahead and slog along the extra couple of months with WGU rather than having to rewrite the wheel or have any more surprises!  'The evil you know vs the evil you don't know.'

---

While I agree with Rachel that UMPI can be relatively fast, there are definitely some advantages to WGU, especially if you prefer tests over papers. Even with papers (PAs at WGU), there is a system for doing them quickly, something along the lines of:

1. Scaffold out the headings based on assignment description and rubric.
   
2. Quickly write each section, not worrying about accuracy, grammar, etc.; just write.
   
3. Revise as needed (quickly).
   
4. Rewrite with Grammarly until there are no remaining suggestions.
   
5. Submit.
   
6. If revisions are needed, address the specific sections, highlight the changes, and resubmit.
   
7. Unlimited attempts!
   

Check out this post:
For Anyone in the Business Admin Management Program (Recap: 90 CU's in 90 days) : WGU (reddit.com)

Also see the partners pages, as there are probably some courses you can knock out quickly at Sophia and Study.com:
Study.com
Sophia

Thank you for the excellent links and suggestions!  I am reading it and all associated links thoroughly.

IDK if I can revise quickly lol is one problem with the writing.   How many attempts does WGU allow, and how long does it take for them to get back to you if revisions are needed?  If you have infinite and the response is less than a week then that likely would help a lot for me to speed up.

How would you say WGU classes compare to study.com as far as the amount of time they take?  I finished the testing for Com 301 in about 10 hrs, but the paper took me 20 (first paper in 20 years and I was panicking/avoiding/over-researching- is why).

If I continue on with WGU I am trying to finish everything I possibly can on Sophia and Study.com so that I don't have to pay for a 2nd term.

[bjcheung77]

It really depends on your learning style and time management, all three listed are great options to select from. UMPI BLS, Excelsior BSLA, TESU BSBA. The max transferable to UMPI is 90 credits, Excelsior is 113, TESU is 114. If you have a budget of about $6K, all three should hit the spot just fine if you use the flat-rate tuition option at TESU, that would work better than the residency waiver option and remain within your budget. I'd apply to all three and see where your current credits land...

[rachel83az]

UMPI does allow you to continue to transfer in credits. You simply need to ask permission. Many students have been able to do this with no problem.

You can transfer up to 114 credits into TESU; that hasn't changed. I didn't mean to imply that it had. TESU is fine. They only require 18 UL credits (3 come from the capstone, leaving 15 UL credits to obtain elsewhere). There are plenty of UL credits on SDC to be able to get a BALS, BSBA Marketing, or multiple other degrees.

If you take fewer than 16 TESU credits (and TECEP exams don't count), then you have to pay the residency waiver fee. But you can still opt to take just the 6 TESU credits (cornerstone/capstone) and pay the fee.

[ss20ts]

Super helpful, thank you!

• That is more than a shame about Excelsior.  I was looking at their Liberal Arts degree and hoping I could take whatever study.com classes I was interested in, and fill in all the spaces.  But if they are randomly not accepting stuff, then that is a no-go.
  
• UMPI-  I have some distrust of them just because of the 'Surprise!  You are enrolled=  no more transfer credits.'  Seems more than a little tricky, is that a one-off and not reflective of them in general?
  
• TESU.  I had thought this school was one of those you could transfer in 113 credits, is that not the case anymore?  Is the main problem that even with the Liberal Arts degree there are so many UL credits you can't find enough on study.com?
  

Not sure where you got this info about UMPI, but it is incorrect. You can transfer courses into UMPI after you're enrolled. You just need to email your academic advisor for permission. Not a big deal. Many schools don't allow transfer credit after you're enrolled including WGU.

[schematic_dreamer]

It really depends on your learning style and time management, all three listed are great options to select from. UMPI BLS, Excelsior BSLA, TESU BSBA.  The max transferable to UMPI is 90 credits, Excelsior is 113, TESU is 114.  If you have a budget of about $6K, all three should hit the spot just fine if you use the flat-rate tuition option at TESU, that would work better than the residency waiver option and remain within your budget.  I'd apply to all three and see where your current credits land...

Do UMPI and TESU typically take all Sophia and SDC classes that line up with their programs?   I have 42-48 ish credits now, so most of my credits will hopefully come from SDC.

Thank you for all of your help!

[ss20ts]

You actually don't need to take classes from Study for UMPI. You can come in pretty close to the 90 credits with Just Sophia. you already have an associate degree so most of those courses are likely to transfer to UMPI. You can only transfer in 90 credits at UMPI. You must complete 30 credits or more at UMPI.

[rachel83az]

TESU will accept "anything" that lines up with their degree programs, per known equivalencies. I.E., there are some SDC courses that might be listed as UL credits in the ACE guide but TESU doesn't accept them or only accepts them as LL. https://study.com/college/school/thomas-...rsity.html shows which SDC courses TESU accepts. Known Sophia equivalencies are here: https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/So...lency_List

UMPI is similar. Though, as stated, you are only permitted to transfer in 90 credits to a degree. The remaining 30 credits must be taken at UMPI.