Looking for advice about finishing my degree

[KayV]

Thanks, Alleycat, that's good (but sad) to know.

OP, Technology Studies at COSC might work well with your credits if you want a specific concentration instead of Individualized Studies.
https://www.charteroak.edu/catalog/curre...tudies.cfm

[GoodYellowDogs]

At Excelsior design courses would go into the correct buckets (arts, etc.) and/or into Applied Professional - which you can use as one of your depths. I had weird credits too and used them to do a Applied Professional (Healthcare) depth because I had lower and upper division.

[alleycat]

AU up date on my friend. It's a complete and utter joke at this point. No direct answers to the questions asked about their very own allocation for the exact same courses. Detailed outline and syllabus are the only solution. Well she contacted the school she attended. Instructors are retired, moved, or dead. Emailed those course departments for the above mentioned items. No reply as of yet. Now here's a good one, AU is suggesting PLA to her! I almost died. She had 120 something credits and approx 10 are listed in their very own system as upper level and they will not budge without massive hoops being jump through. I told my friend to just pack it up and go else where. So exhausting to witness!

[dfrecore]

AU up date on my friend. It's a complete and utter joke at this point. No direct answers to the questions asked about their very own allocation for the exact same courses. Detailed outline and syllabus are the only solution. Well she contacted the school she attended. Instructors are retired, moved, or dead. Emailed those course departments for the above mentioned items. No reply as of yet. Now here's a good one, AU is suggesting PLA to her! I almost died. She had 120 something credits and approx 10 are listed in their very own system as upper level and they will not budge without massive hoops being jump through. I told my friend to just pack it up and go else where. So exhausting to witness!

I was able to get green sheets for several classes from 1988/89, just by calling the department at the school. They just emailed me scanned copies while I was on the phone with them. This is a gigantic school with about 30k students, you'd think it would be a bureaucratic nightmare but it was surprisingly easy.

I would try to get the docs they wanted if it was fairly simple, just because you want the easiest degree possible and this might be it. But, if they still weren't helpful after a good honest try, then get the heck out of there. If they aren't helpful to students who are thinking of going to the school, you can just imagine how helpful they'll be after you've paid your money and are in the midst of it all!

[alleycat]

Completely agree. She has contacted the different departments. No one has gotten back yet! AU isn't the most customer friendly school. Just waiting to see what happens. What really did it was the PLA comment from them. My friend already has so many months invested with these people I could not see her taking on the task of a PLA with them when she has so many credits. It's just so painful to witness.

[needdegree123]

AU up date on my friend. It's a complete and utter joke at this point. No direct answers to the questions asked about their very own allocation for the exact same courses. Detailed outline and syllabus are the only solution. Well she contacted the school she attended. Instructors are retired, moved, or dead. Emailed those course departments for the above mentioned items. No reply as of yet. Now here's a good one, AU is suggesting PLA to her! I almost died. She had 120 something credits and approx 10 are listed in their very own system as upper level and they will not budge without massive hoops being jump through. I told my friend to just pack it up and go else where. So exhausting to witness!

I've read one or two other horror stories like that when researching AU, so I think I might have to stay away. With such an unorthodox set of credits to my name, I don't have the time to try and round up my english 101 sylabus just to see if they'll take those credits.

Also thanks to everyone else, I've got a good grasp on what I'm looking at right now and how to start the hopefully short finish to my degree.

[alleycat]

AU update for my friend. She was able to get some of her course outlines. She mailed her first set off the beginning of April. She did receive an email saying they did receive them. Still no information on any upgrades to her course that are listed in the schools own data base as upper level! She mailed a second set of outlines off to them and has not received any response. So sad for her. She figured if they did make the changes all she would need is 2 exams from Excelsior or TESU.

[needdegree123]

Hello all, OP here. I figured I'd update this for anyone who may find this page via google or feel stuck in a similar situation as I was.

The one thing I didn't do when looking into going back to school a few years back, was contact my original school. I figured they wanted me to take a ton of classes and that I would have to be in the area of the school and it would be impossible, so I never contacted them. I was also probably fairly embarrassed that I had that many credits and no degree.

Well late last summer I finally got in contact with my school to see what my options were and they were pretty simple. I just needed an senior experience class or internship to graduate. Like just 3 credits. I was pretty shocked and mad for how dumb I'd been.

I graduated today. 

Of course my degree wasn't in industrial design, it was basically in general studies, but with 5+ years in a field I'm really good at, the degree could have said basket weaving for all I care.

Nothing at all against any of the schools talked about on this forum, as everyone's education journey is different, but for anyone in my same or a similar situation, PLEASE , PLEASE reach out to the school you attended to see what options are available to you. They're always willing to take your money, and the people are probably understanding and willing to help.

[jsd]

Congratulations!

[dfrecore]

Hello all, OP here. I figured I'd update this for anyone who may find this page via google or feel stuck in a similar situation as I was.

The one thing I didn't do when looking into going back to school a few years back, was contact my original school. I figured they wanted me to take a ton of classes and that I would have to be in the area of the school and it would be impossible, so I never contacted them. I was also probably fairly embarrassed that I had that many credits and no degree.

Well late last summer I finally got in contact with my school to see what my options were and they were pretty simple. I just needed an senior experience class or internship to graduate. Like just 3 credits. I was pretty shocked and mad for how dumb I'd been.

I graduated today. 

Of course my degree wasn't in industrial design, it was basically in general studies, but with 5+ years in a field I'm really good at, the degree could have said basket weaving for all I care.

Nothing at all against any of the schools talked about on this forum, as everyone's education journey is different, but for anyone in my same or a similar situation, PLEASE , PLEASE reach out to the school you attended to see what options are available to you. They're always willing to take your money, and the people are probably understanding and willing to help.

I agree, find out if the school where you accumulated your credits has a way for you to graduate before looking elsewhere.  It's really the simplest solution IF you can do it.