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NEWB - Overwhelmed looking for help
#1
I've been perusing the site for some time but I could really use some direction / help. 

I'm a user interface designer and I've been in the field for over 20 years and have been very successful even with a lack of a degree but if I were to lose my job I would be in big trouble not having a Bachelors - even with an in -demand skillset. I have an old Associates Degree from the Art Institute (before they were regionally accredited so no transfers allowed). I have applied to TESU and Excelsior and both accepted me. I need to be able to tick that box. I had an interview Friday and the conversation went fantastic until I had to explain my degree situation. I could tell by the tone that it was over. With that being said, this is something I must do. I have decided on TESU but want to test out the maximum before registering. 

I'm having difficulty on deciding on a degree path. I'm terrible at Math and know that is going to be a major hurdle for me so I want the least amount of Math possible. I did read something about a General Studies path??? But can't recall exactly what it is. I really do need this to go as fast and easy as possible as my workload at my job is heavy. 

I would also like input from some folks that work full-time and have long commutes. I work 9-6 and that's fairly consistent but my commute is 1 hr each way by train. I'm hoping I would be able to study during that commute time. 

I'm not even sure if this is realistic. I also wanted to get info on the best resources to past the test. I really don't want to read a 600 page book if possible. Flash cards, videos etc would be great as I'm an auditory learner. 

Something I forgot. What is better or is the information about the same between this forum and "degree info"? I'm really liking this but wanted to ask.

Any thoughts on a plan, direction or any helpful feedback would be most appreciated. Thanks in advance!
#2
I feel the same way as you when i first decided to do this and finish my degree. Everything feels a bit overwhelmed but once you get started and have your path it will be more clear. I followed this guide on what courses to take and also pm'd bjcheung77. Some people have completed it in 4 months. Some a bit longer due to work and etc.

Most people are going for a BSBA General mangement so the degree spreadsheet is for that but its really on waht you want to go for first at TESU
You can read this first http://degreeforum.net/mybb/showthread.php?tid=24842

i prefer the 2017 BSBA General Management Spreadsheet (using mainly SL/Study.com) < one because it was faster.

maybe @bjcheung77 or @dfrecore can comment of post up their spreadsheets for you.
My Plan: Earn a MSML or a MBA at WGU!
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#3
(10-29-2017, 09:22 AM)BearEDU Wrote: I feel the same way as you when i first decided to do this and finish my degree. Everything feels a bit overwhelmed but once you get started and have your path it will be more clear. I followed this guide on what courses to take and also pm'd bjcheung77. Some people have completed it in 4 months. Some a bit longer due to work and etc.

Most people are going for a BSBA General mangement so the degree spreadsheet is for that but its really on waht you want to go for first at TESU
You can read this first http://degreeforum.net/mybb/showthread.php?tid=24842

i prefer the 2017 BSBA General Management Spreadsheet (using mainly SL/Study.com) < one because it was faster.

maybe @bjcheung77 or @dfrecore can comment of post up their spreadsheets for you.

Thanks for the response. I did find the link above (after I posted) and it's extremely well documented. Thanks!
#4
Yea its pretty good but i cant seem to pull up his Study.com/SL spreadsheet. Once he posts that you should be good then you can start tackling the SL/Study.com courses

http://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/showthre...ine+coupon < look for coupons for SL. for study.com you can apply for the study.com guardian scholarship it will help you with 6 courses . I recommend study.com over SL because i prefer the videos but some may like the SL format instead. remember you can only have max of 90 credits coming from one source either study.com or sl. with a mix of both you should be good.

Most people would of recommended you to enroll a bit later when you have some courses + have study.com courses already on ace so when your transcript comes in or when you applied TESU can apply the study.com member student onto your account. But its not too late so dont stress about it. Whenever you finish a course i recommend you to submit it on your ACE transcript immediately. Even your SL courses as well even though they will transfer it directly to TESU for you.

Hype for the journey to a degree!
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#5
The easiest Bachelors to check the box is a general studies type of degree, the BALS (liberal studies). The business degree needs statistics, 2 accounting courses, and 2 economics courses. Accounting and economics don't require a lot of math, but some math-like concepts.

InstantCert flashcards are great for some CLEP/DSST/TECEP exams. Most exams have free flashcards that other students have made. Many students use videos from YouTube for some of their courses. For testing out, you can generally use whatever resources you want to learn the material.

Can you study on your days off? If you only study during your commute, it seems like the degree would take a while. Unless you have a lot of prior knowledge in some of these subjects. Someone with prior knowledge can go and take 2-3 CLEP/DSST in a day, and repeat, and have 1/3 of their degree done very soon.

[-] The following 1 user Likes Ideas's post:
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#6
The"other" forum doesn't spend much time on the nuts and bolts of getting a bachelor's online. They spend more time on politics and news about school and accreditation. They also spend more time on graduate programs. When they do try to help people with the Big3 they tend to give dated advice.

You're in the right place.

All of the degrees start in the same place, getting you're GenEds done, so that's where you should start. Don't procrastinate worrying about whether your commute time is a good time to study, get started on a course and find out! While you're doing that, keep reading here. After a couple of weeks of reading threads here, you'll be able to fill in a lot of the blanks yourself.
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#7
Thanks everyone for the info. Super helpful!

(10-29-2017, 12:15 PM)Ideas Wrote: The easiest Bachelors to check the box is a general studies type of degree, the BALS (liberal studies). The business degree needs statistics, 2 accounting courses, and 2 economics courses. Accounting and economics don't require a lot of math, but some math-like concepts.

InstantCert flashcards are great for some CLEP/DSST/TECEP exams. Most exams have free flashcards that other students have made. Many students use videos from YouTube for some of their courses. For testing out, you can generally use whatever resources you want to learn the material.

Can you study on your days off? If you only study during your commute, it seems like the degree would take a while. Unless you have a lot of prior knowledge in some of these subjects. Someone with prior knowledge can go and take 2-3 CLEP/DSST in a day, and repeat, and have 1/3 of their degree done very soon.
I can definitely study on the weekends and any time I have off. One more questions; the BALS looks like the way to go but I'm not sure what to consider for a concentration. Trying to avoid as much math as possible. Any recommendations?
#8
I would recommend either the BALS or the BSBA from TESU. BALS if you just need a degree, BSBA if you're wanting a more useful degree.
The BALS is slightly better in terms of cheap/easy/fast, but the utility of the BSBA is better. If you are wanting to get a BALS and don't know which concentration, you can go for "no concentration", or from the templates I have in my Beginners Guide (English Lit, or Psychology).

You can use Shmoop for English Lit, and Study.com for Psychology. I have two templates created for BALS, two BSBA, and a BA CS.... I would basically work on the General Education credits first and then the FREE elective credits, work on your AOS last. Take your time and read the Beginners Guide, Spreadsheet Templates, and last but not least, the Wiki for more details. Use this thread as your accountability thread for progress and tracking, follow up questions and what not.
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#9
Here are my spreadsheets for the BSBA and BALS.

My best advice: start!  Just take the free Ethics course, then maybe a free TEEX course, then sign up for a month of Study.com (or apply for the scholarship there), then maybe try a SL course.  Try Shmoop.  Whatever.  Just start by doing something, anything, and get that momentum going.  Spend 30-60 minutes a day here on this forum, reading up, learning what to do.  Do it for a week.

Once you find a course provider that you like, keep going with it.  Take 90cr there, if that's what you want to do (easy with both SL and Study.com, but there are more too).  Test out of some things you know already, that's a great motivation (I loved testing out of 4 courses, it felt like a great jump start for me).

Then, keep going.  Even if you can't go as fast as others (and there are people on here who are crazy fast with what they do), go at a good pace for you.  Every little bit helps.  120cr left to go seems daunting, but 100 seems less, and 70 seems less than that, and 30 is awesome.  But you'll never get anywhere if you don't start taking some tests/courses!

Good luck!


Attached Files
.xlsx   TESU 2016 BALS.xlsx (Size: 44 KB / Downloads: 36)
.xlsx   TESU BSBA GenMan.xlsx (Size: 37.32 KB / Downloads: 14)
TESU BSBA/HR 2018 - WVNCC BOG AAS 2017 - GGU Cert in Mgmt 2000
EXAMS: TECEP Tech Wrtg, Comp II, LA Math, PR, Computers  DSST Computers, Pers Fin  CLEP Mgmt, Mktg
COURSES: TESU Capstone  Study.com Pers Fin, Microecon, Stats  Ed4Credit Acct 2  PF Fin Mgmt  ALEKS Int & Coll Alg  Sophia Proj Mgmt The Institutes - Ins Ethics  Kaplan PLA
[-] The following 2 users Like dfrecore's post:
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#10
(10-29-2017, 05:07 PM)dfrecore Wrote: Here are my spreadsheets for the BSBA and BALS.

My best advice: start!  Just take the free Ethics course, then maybe a free TEEX course, then sign up for a month of Study.com (or apply for the scholarship there), then maybe try a SL course.  Try Shmoop.  Whatever.  Just start by doing something, anything, and get that momentum going.  Spend 30-60 minutes a day here on this forum, reading up, learning what to do.  Do it for a week.

Once you find a course provider that you like, keep going with it.  Take 90cr there, if that's what you want to do (easy with both SL and Study.com, but there are more too).  Test out of some things you know already, that's a great motivation (I loved testing out of 4 courses, it felt like a great jump start for me).

Then, keep going.  Even if you can't go as fast as others (and there are people on here who are crazy fast with what they do), go at a good pace for you.  Every little bit helps.  120cr left to go seems daunting, but 100 seems less, and 70 seems less than that, and 30 is awesome.  But you'll never get anywhere if you don't start taking some tests/courses!

Good luck!

Excellent! Thanks for this.

This is probably a silly question but I'm assuming ALL exams are proctored?

(10-29-2017, 04:42 PM)bjcheung77 Wrote: I would recommend either the BALS or the BSBA from TESU.  BALS if you just need a degree, BSBA if you're wanting a more useful degree.
The BALS is slightly better in terms of cheap/easy/fast, but the utility of the BSBA is better.  If you are wanting to get a BALS and don't know which concentration, you can go for "no concentration", or from the templates I have in my Beginners Guide (English Lit, or Psychology).

You can use Shmoop for English Lit, and Study.com for Psychology. I have two templates created for BALS, two BSBA, and a BA CS.... I would basically work on the General Education credits first and then the FREE elective credits, work on your AOS last.  Take your time and read the Beginners Guide, Spreadsheet Templates, and last but not least, the Wiki for more details.  Use this thread as your accountability thread for progress and tracking, follow up questions and what not.


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