Just start testing or enroll?

[josh03]

First post so please endure my ignorance. I am a working law enforcement professional looking to possibly change careers. I was attending a brick and mortar school and although I was doing well, my schedule unstable schedule made school difficult. My degree was origionally going to be a cj degree but I am looking to change to business. I took classes at Penn State in the following areas:

Criminology 3 credits
Music/arts 3 credits
Rhetoric and Comp(engl) 3 credits
Intro to Crim 3 credits
Hort(science) 3 credits
Geology(science) 3 credits
statistics 3 credits
organizational leadership 3 credits

I also took a sociology clep on a whim and was granted 3 credits.

Prior to policing I was in the U.S.M.C and my previous school awarded me the following ace credit:

KINES HLTH & PHYSICAL ED 4.0 GEN 0.00
NAVSC MILITARY SCIENCE 3.0 GEN 0.00
FIN PERSONAL FIN 1.0 GEN 0.00
PL SC INTRO TERRORISM 1.0 GEN 0.00
NAVSC PRINC OF MGMT 2.0 GEN 0.00
C I INSTRUCTIONAL STRA 3.0 GEN 0.00
NAVSC MGMT & LEADERSHIP 2.0 GEN 0.00

Total 16.0

I also took a 3 credit history course at a community college. Unfortunately my academy classes did not count as any credit and that leaves me with approximately 46 credit hours,
I apologize for the long winded build up but here is my question. Do i enroll first to the big three and see how they evaluate my credit or do I start hammering out my business courses? I would like to pursue a business degree and I know there are several clep test I could take prior to applying. I am just learning about straightliner and I am intrigued thus far. Is an 18 month goal doable? I enjoy online learning but I would just like to be efficient. The 12 to 16 week courses at my previous school were long. I'm just looking for my best options.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[cookderosa]

First post so please endure my ignorance. I am a working law enforcement professional looking to possibly change careers. I was attending a brick and mortar school and although I was doing well, my schedule unstable schedule made school difficult. My degree was origionally going to be a cj degree but I am looking to change to business. I took classes at Penn State in the following areas:

Criminology 3 credits
Music/arts 3 credits
Rhetoric and Comp(engl) 3 credits
Intro to Crim 3 credits
Hort(science) 3 credits
Geology(science) 3 credits
statistics 3 credits
organizational leadership 3 credits

I also took a sociology clep on a whim and was granted 3 credits.

Prior to policing I was in the U.S.M.C and my previous school awarded me the following ace credit:

KINES HLTH & PHYSICAL ED 4.0 GEN 0.00
NAVSC MILITARY SCIENCE 3.0 GEN 0.00
FIN PERSONAL FIN 1.0 GEN 0.00
PL SC INTRO TERRORISM 1.0 GEN 0.00
NAVSC PRINC OF MGMT 2.0 GEN 0.00
C I INSTRUCTIONAL STRA 3.0 GEN 0.00
NAVSC MGMT & LEADERSHIP 2.0 GEN 0.00

Total 16.0

I also took a 3 credit history course at a community college. Unfortunately my academy classes did not count as any credit and that leaves me with approximately 46 credit hours,
I apologize for the long winded build up but here is my question. Do i enroll first to the big three and see how they evaluate my credit or do I start hammering out my business courses? I would like to pursue a business degree and I know there are several clep test I could take prior to applying. I am just learning about straightliner and I am intrigued thus far. Is an 18 month goal doable? I enjoy online learning but I would just like to be efficient. The 12 to 16 week courses at my previous school were long. I'm just looking for my best options.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Welcome!
Since you already know you want to earn a degree in business, you just have to decide which school. You don't have too many credits that would pigeonhole you into one or the other, but you have just enough that you should get to count all of them, even if it's as an elective.
You can absolutely test now without enrolling first, but you shouldn't start testing without picking a school, because you have to know which degree plan your following in order to pick the right tests. Hope that helps.

[SwaggyP]

[QUOTE=Is an 18 month goal doable? I enjoy online learning but I would just like to be efficient. The 12 to 16 week courses at my previous school were long. I'm just looking for my best options.[/QUOTE]

Very doable. You'll be surprised how fast you can accumulate credits once you get started. Like cookderosa said, pick a school, review your enrollment options, and start chipping away at those degree requirements.

[josh03]

Thanks guys, I guess I'll search the forums and decide on a school. I need to learn more about straightliner a little more. One of my biggest fears is redundancy.

[mog538]

Josh, I took a lot of Straighterline course at the end of last year so if you have any questions, I can do my best to answer them.

[CollegeKid]

Thanks guys, I guess I'll search the forums and decide on a school. I need to learn more about straightliner a little more. One of my biggest fears is redundancy.

Redundancy is a concern, but don't worry too much about wasting your time. You'll always have gen ed and free electives that you'll need to fulfill... so if you take a test that doesn't exactly fit into your plan, you can still probably use it.

Also just wanted to mention is that the reason you don't want to enroll is because it may put you on a time clock. At TESC, if you enroll non-resident, then you only have one year to complete or you have to enroll again. Maybe you will have other options with your military background. But definitely pick the school, make the plan, take the tests and then enroll at the end.