I am a newbie and i am looking for a roadmap to finish in the fastest way possible

[mathewsdad1]

I was wondering if anyone has a roadmap that will help me cut out the fluff and get straight to the point. I have 16 units coming in but i want to act as if i do not have any credits. Any information will be appreciated greatly. Thank you.

Mathewsdad

[burbuja0512]

Hi there and welcome! You have come to the right place and you'll find quite a bit of help here, but in order to keep as fluff-free as possible, can you tell us a little bit about yourself and what you want to accomplish?

Some questions to keep in mind, though there may be more:

- What degree would benefit your career or your goals more?
- What is more important to you: time or money? (All degree plans we propose will be quicker than a traditional one, what I mean is are you willing to spend an extra month to save a hundred bucks, or is money saved your primary concern?)
- Will you consider graduate school or is your undergrad your planned stopping point?
- What are your interests and strengths/weaknesses? This can help plan your testing path... starting where you're comfortable is always easiest!
- Do you have any initial preference between the Big 3?
- Any other comments or details that you'd like to share that might help?

I hope we can help you put together a plan that will work, but keep in mind that no matter what you major in, you will have ups and downs. Studying and staying motivated is very difficult, even when you have a class full of people to hold you vaguely accountable for your study. It's even harder when no one is watching. You'll really need to stay FULLY committed and know that even if this is not an easy way to get a degree, it is doable and yes you will save a lot of time and a ton of money.

[mathewsdad1]

Dear burbuja0512,

Thank you for your timely response to my earlier posting. I am all about saving time to sacrfice a few dollars. My career goals it to get into coaching football and ultimately get my Master's, but first things first. I am most comfortable with English and least comfortable with math. I have wasted so much time that there is no way that I am going to stop or not be fully committed, my older brother told me cout CLEP 10 years ago and I did not take it seriously then, but because I am older and I don't have time to waste I am totally taking everything seriously now. When you ask me if I have any preference between the "Big 3," what exactly do you mean. I want to achieve my goal in the fastest way possible and I am willing to put in whatever means necessary to do so. I appreciate any and all advice that you may have for me. Thanks again.

[burbuja0512]

Dear burbuja0512,

Thank you for your timely response to my earlier posting. I am all about saving time to sacrfice a few dollars. My career goals it to get into coaching football and ultimately get my Master's, but first things first. I am most comfortable with English and least comfortable with math. I have wasted so much time that there is no way that I am going to stop or not be fully committed, my older brother told me cout CLEP 10 years ago and I did not take it seriously then, but because I am older and I don't have time to waste I am totally taking everything seriously now. When you ask me if I have any preference between the "Big 3," what exactly do you mean. I want to achieve my goal in the fastest way possible and I am willing to put in whatever means necessary to do so. I appreciate any and all advice that you may have for me. Thanks again.

You're welcome!

Ok... so you have a lot to learn and whatever happens, don't be intimidated or scared off. We have all been in the same boat and I NEVER, EVER thought that I would actually get a bachelor's degree when I first started on this journey. Here is some info that might be helpful:

The "Big 3" refer to Charter Oak State College (COSC), Thomas Edison State College (TESC) or Excelsior College (EC.) Each are regionally accredited schools. COSC is a small state college based in CT, TESC is a bigger state college in NJ, and EC used to be part of the NY State system, but is now a private, but still totally accredited school. These schools specialize in adult education and allow a larger than normal number of testing credits to be used as part of a degree. Keep in mind that accepting CLEP and DSST credits isn't unusual; just like AP credits, most colleges that you would consider attending will accept some testing credits, just not as many as the "Big 3" will accept.

SO.. what this means for us is that at TESC, there are a couple of degrees that you can ENTIRELY test out of and there are a couple of degrees at COSC and EC that will require a class or two at most.

"Testing out" isn't as easy as it sounds and I'm not sure how you found this forum, but some people have read the BAin4weeks.com site. This is a great site and the reason I eventually ended up here. (My younger brother got his degree at COSC years ago after finding the BAin4Weeks.com site to put together a degree, then using IC as his sole source of study. He was the one that told me about all of this and how I ended up here.) If you anticipate just walking into a testing site and gaining a quick and easy 3 credits, you'll be very disappointed. Yes, you will probably be able to take some tests "cold" because you're an adult that has lived life, but most will require at least a week or more of intense study, and some will make you really sweat. Ha ha - at least if you're anything like me!

Here are what I think your options are for the quickest degree at one of the Big 3:

NO classwork, can be achieved only through testing - Liberal Arts, Business Administration, and Psych at TESC. (I think History too and perhaps Natural Sciences/Math??)
One Class: Liberal Arts, Business Admin through EC. I don't know a lot about EC, but their coursework seems to mirror TESC.
Two Classes: Liberal Arts, Business Administration and Psych through COSC.

So what are the advantages of choosing among the Big 3? Each school has its advantages and I would like to apologize in advance for not giving sufficient info about EC. I just don't know a lot about it so I'll let the others here comment on its advantages. My understanding is that it's not quite as expensive as TESC, but doesn't force you to take two classes like COSC does. It's also well known and respected in military circles from what I read here. EC aside, I can comment a bit more about TESC and COSC.

Advantages of TESC: Depending on the major, you may not have to ever take a class. I would NOT recommend this if you even remotely want to move on to a masters degree, but if you're really against classroom learning, it's nice to have the option to test out of everything. TESC also allows you to get an associates degree on the path to get your bachelors. I wouldn't personally have any benefit to this, but for some people it's helpful. Even though TESC is generally considered the most expensive of the Big 3, you can still obtain your bachelors for under 6k including testing costs, which is just a drop in the bucket compared to most institutions. Hmmm... there are other TESC advantages, but that's all that's coming to mind right this second. I know more will pop up.

Advantages of COSC: COSC forces you to take both a Cornerstone AND a Capstone course to graduate. Their Cornerstone is like an introductory college course that gives the basics that most traditional students would need to successfully complete an online learning program. I did take their Capstone, which for my major was Strategic Management 499. I liked the class and really learned a lot. It helped me at my job and prepared me for the more rigorous MBA environment that I'm currently in, but of course, taking this class isn't desired by everyone here.

So - what is the big advantage to COSC and why did I choose it for my undergrad? Just a couple of reasons - first of all, my younger brother is a COSC alum and I've seen him successfully go on to get his masters and he's now working on his PhD. Also, even though I considered other majors, I decided upon business administration, which at TESC and EC requires more math than I am interested in doing. COSC only requires a college Math CLEP, not pre-calc like TESC or EC. If you're not going into biz admin, this doesn't matter, but for me it did. COSC is BY FAR your easiest math option if you want biz, but for your football goals, you'll probably be fine with another option, so this probably doesn't apply.

Ok.. I have been rambling on and I'm going to hit submit on this post even if I didn't quite answer all of your questions I can submit some sample degree plans in a moment and I bet others will too, soon.

[burbuja0512]

I just had an additional thought and it's advice I have given here probably at least 100 times. There are TONS of possible degree paths, but there are some basic tests that will be necessary no matter what you end up doing. Perhaps rather than choosing right now which degree plan is the best, you might decide upon a CLEP to take just to get the feel of it and see if it's for you.

Since you're good at English, I would probably suggest Analyzing and Interpreting Literature. Unfortunately, there are no IC cards to help with this, but you can find great advice on taking it on this forum by doing a search. You can also go here: Free Clep Prep.com to get some pointers in the right direction. I didn't think it was super-easy like everyone says that it is, but it's a 6 credit CLEP test that you can pass with less than a week's worth of study. My dear husband took it totally cold and beat my score!

Find a testing center in your area first. If you're in a major city, this will be easy, but a few forum members struggle if they live in remote locations. Schedule your test for a week or two from now and commit to it. I bet that you'll be totally hooked on the testing "high" that many of us get when we pass a CLEP. This will motivate you to move forward and really confirm that testing is the right way to go.

[Lindagerr]

Burbuja is a great source and has some great advice there. I just want to add if you need a fast education on the basics of online learning and the big 3 this wiki set up by dcan and added to by others from here is a great resource without having to search this whole site

Unofficial Community-Supported DegreeForum Wiki (link approved by forum admin)
Collected wisdom of the many wonderful people here to help newbies with common questions. Definitions, strategies, and degree plans. Editable by anyone, so if you see something you think needs improvement, DO IT! 60+ pages and climbing!

[cookderosa]

It's worth saying also, that ALL the degrees at the big 3 allow you to CLEP the gen eds. Many allow you to CLEP (or DSST, or ECE, etc) out of most of the in-major courses. The difference between a fully test-out-able degree and one that has nearly nothing in their major is only 3-9 classes. I bring this up, because sometimes people opt into a degree that they really don't want by giving up one they really do want, and it might have only been a 12 weeks semester.

I'd start by picking 2-3 degrees that would be your top choices, and compare that against one of the fully test-out-able options (liberal arts, social scienc, etc) and then you can look at the time/cost/difficulty. Let othrs know what you already have, and you'll be building a degree plan in no time.

At the end of the day, no matter how you do it, by attending any school that allows unlimited CLEP is going to be lightening fast.

[mathewsdad1]

I appreciate your feedback so much, thank you. You have opened my eyes alot wider than they originally were when I started. I was leaning towards Liberal Arts because I sent my transcripts to EC and TESC and had the privelage of having a real nice lady (from EC) take about an hour out of her day to help me and let me know that some of the classes I have passed would qualify towards the Liberal Arts degree. Even though I have read a little bit about COSC I never gave it a second though, but you have now given me an option that I didn't originally think of and I thnk you for that. I am going to put the time in and "keep marching forward, one foot after the other" and I am expecting to hit some roadblocks (ie., math amongst others) but my thinking is that I keep the subjects that I do not like, or that are harder for me until the end so that I can continually study them a little bit at a time so that when it is time to take the tests, I am hopefully only going to have to do a review and some practice tests and I won't be overwhelmed all at once. One quick question though, if I decide to go with TESC is it not "remotely possible" to move onto my masters if so chosen. Once again, thank you very much.

[mathewsdad1]

Jennifer,

I thank you for your feedback, I will now take a look at what you brought to my attention.

[mathewsdad1]

Linda,

I thank you for your input as well. I just added that link to my favorites so that I can review it in the morning when I am not so tired. Thanks again.