Is a bachelors degree in 6 months possible?

[tinybubbles]

Hello everyone! eeya: Ive been stalking the forums for about 3 months and finally decided to post. I hope someone can answer a few questions and/or offer some tips! My main goal is to get a bachelors degree in business as fast as possible. Hopefully before my next birthday in 6 months. Im 26 and am now finally realizing that everyone I know is advancing in their careers and I'm stuck in a dead end job I hate. I have no college experience and only worked regular retail jobs. Sorry in advance for my newbie-ness. I'm still learning about this college stuff and dont really know the whole process of credits, transfers, etc. >_< I want to take some clep exams, transfer them to one of the big 3, and transfer the credits to a brick and mortar college. Is that possible? I would love to graduate from the university my grandmother graduated from. But if thats not possible, I would like to still get my bachelors in business as fast as possible, then apply at my grandmothers school to get my masters in public health. Will I also be able to qualify for financial aid if I went with one of the big 3? If anyone has any degree plans or other tips, I'd greatly appreciate it!

[davewill]

As far as the exams go, your B&M college has to accept them directly. They won't accept them just because one of the Big 3 did. Courses you take should transfer, but the exact policy is specific to the school. It would help if you laid your cards on the table. What school do you want to graduate from? Do you have any college credits? Can you be a full-time student or will you have to work full or part time while doing it? Then we can figure out your options.

Yes the Big 3 offer financial aid. You can certainly use a bachelors from one of them to apply for a masters, but knowing the school would help us judge your chances of success.

Anyway, 6 months seems very ambitious, but you can obviously beat 4+ years!

[kevinmane]

You CAN do it - it'd be tough. Scope the forums for how to rack up some credits. I recommend TESC only because they require less upper level credit than the other 2 and it does not have a capstone course for the BSBA.
A quick and cheap way to get hella credit (especially for Business majors) would be to go through Straighterline. They have a ton of courses you can take that transfer over to TESC that satisfies a lot of the requirements. Plus, SL now includes the e-textbook with a lot of their classes so you'll save a lot of money on books! It's $99/month for the membership and about $59 per course. So if you're a gangster, you can probably knock out 10 courses a month. I knocked out 3 in one week so I'm assuming that if I had to do 10, I think I could get 'er done in 1 month - but I was going full throttle during that one week. That's around $700 for 30 credits! Some schools cost that much PER credit!
I'd recommend to take as many classes as possible that will go into the degree program at TESC.
After that, I'd recommend to CLEP (and DSST) out of any others. Sign up for Instant Cert and do the flashcards until you get every question right.
I'd also review specific exam feedback on the forum - sometimes the info on there is more valuable than the flashcards!

6 months is pretty hardcore.
I got 54 credits done (about half of the 120 required) in 6 months. But I also worked two jobs.
I think you should make 6 months your official GOAL so that you push hard the whole time - but don't be bummed if you don't get there that quick because at least you'll be probably be closer than if you made your goal a year.

I think, reasonably speaking, you'd be more likely to get it done in one year - maybe 10 months.
But that still beats 4 years, amiright?
Good luck man!

[cookderosa]

Hello everyone! eeya: Ive been stalking the forums for about 3 months and finally decided to post. I hope someone can answer a few questions and/or offer some tips! My main goal is to get a bachelors degree in business as fast as possible. Hopefully before my next birthday in 6 months.

It's possible if you're a good tester. Tests are infinitely faster than classes for a bunch of reasons, but business has a LOT of test options, so in theory, yes- you could do it- or at least get really close.

Im 26 and am now finally realizing that everyone I know is advancing in their careers and I'm stuck in a dead end job I hate. I have no college experience and only worked regular retail jobs. Sorry in advance for my newbie-ness. I'm still learning about this college stuff and dont really know the whole process of credits, transfers, etc. >_< I want to take some clep exams, transfer them to one of the big 3, and transfer the credits to a brick and mortar college. Is that possible?

Not really. The exam credit is treated differently by all colleges than transfer credit. If you took a CLASS at TESC you could transfer that, but the CLEP exams don't gain any credibility or creditworthiness by making a pit-stop at TESC. There is no way to launder exam credit- either your target school accepts it or they don't.

I would love to graduate from the university my grandmother graduated from. But if thats not possible, I would like to still get my bachelors in business as fast as possible, then apply at my grandmothers school to get my masters in public health.

I did my degree from TESC for the sole purpose of getting through as quickly as possible so I could get to grad school. In fact, it is faster to do it that way- and will probably save you a LOT more money. There are very few ways to reduce the costs of grad school, and there are fewer ways to speed it up. In short, it is what it is. All your flexibility with time and money happens at the undergrad level. IMO, doing a degree at TESC and then heading to grad school for your target degree is the best path. Just be sure any prereqs that grad school want you to have are include in your TESC degree plan.

Will I also be able to qualify for financial aid if I went with one of the big 3?

Yep.

If anyone has any degree plans or other tips, I'd greatly appreciate it

[swalke321]

Some useful links.

Degree Forum Wiki - Wikia

Bachelor of Science in Business Administration Degree Program

Earn College Credit | Saylor Academy

[dfrecore]

This is another case of begin with the end in mind. It would definitely be easiest to get a degree at TESC and then transfer to your school of choice for your MPA. What you need to do though, is find out what they require from you to get accepted. Do you need a GPA? If so, how far back will they look (30, 60, or more credits). Do they accept CLEP/DSST/ACE credits. If not, will there be a problem if you have those on your transcript? Or will they accept anyone who graduates with a bachelor's degree in anything?

Once you know more answers, you can start to plan your path. You need to know how many actual classes you need in order to get the GPA they require (if required). You can take classes at your local CC to get those. For the rest, you can start to test out and get towards the bachelor's at TESC. And, figure out which degree would be the easiest to fit all of the classes you need in. Do they want a business degree? Or is Liberal Arts just fine? Either of those is very easy to test out of at TESC (with just a capstone for the LibArts degree).

Do a little more research, then come back and ask more questions! But you've started, which is the first big step, and now we can point you in the right direction to continue.

[inf]

If money is no issue, I would suggest Straighterline + CLEP/DSSTs.

It would be very hard pressed to find an solution to getting a BA/BS in 6 months with a B&M college that doesn't accept SLer/CLEP/DSSTs. Find out what your grandmother's school accepts. Many aren't as liberal in accepting a lot of CLEP/DSSTs as with TESC or any of the big 3, and you most likely won't be able to 'test out'.

I wanted to complete my BS the quickest way possible and as cheap as possible, and during my research, the way to do that was do:
SL classes + CLEP/DSST + 7 TECEPs. You can knock out SL classes quick if you're really dedicated. Same with CLEP/DSSTs

Look at Sanantones guide for after july 2015 as a base guideline to build your own template. Google search the courses to see which ones are quickest/easier, then choose that Course/Clep/Dsst .

Sanantone's TESC BSBA in General Management After July 1, 2015 - Degree Forum Wiki - Wikia



Fastest and cheapest way I think would be BSBA in Gen Management. BSBA in General Management Degree Program
You can choose from others if you dont want that.

If you take a look at it it will tell you exactly what you need to get your degree.

Also take a look at Thomas Edison State College | General Education - 2016 or After
This is the General Edu classes that fill fulfill your needs.


Example would be if you look under
I. General Education Requirements
> A. Intellectual and Practical Skills
> Written Communication (6)

You will see it needs 6 credits in written comm. If you take a look at the Thomas Edison State College | General Education - 2016 or After page, you can choose what you need to fulfill those req. or use Sanantones guide to choose from which you need. Sanantone's TESC General Education Options After July 1, 2015 - Degree Forum Wiki - Wikia

Which gives you a choice of
English Comp I:
TECEP,
CLEP (Composition General – 6 credits or Modular – 3 credits),
Straighterline, or
Uexcel ECEP


If you search around, English Comp I is the easiest and quickest way to earn those creds. BUT if you're using TESC, you can use a tecep for Eng Comp. Remember you need 8 TECEPS/24 credits from TESC (either by teceps or classes) to graduate from there, so adjust accordingly.

Create your degree plan by doing this.

There are tons of degree plans that are posted here in Spreadsheet format so don't be afraid to search for them






Almost every question you have has already been answered on this board. To search just goto google and use "<your query> site:degreeforum.net" without quotations

The quickest way to get credits would always be to 'test out' first (CLEP/DSST/TECEP/ etc..), then SLer, unless the CLEP/DSST/TECEP is hard, then I suggest SLer open book as you can finish those pretty quick if you're dedicated. The longest way to get credits and possibly the cheapest would be community college 16 week classes.





For example I chose


ALEKS College Alg
CLEP Analyzing Interp Lit
CLEP Principles of Management
CLEP Principals of marketing
DSST Fundamentals of Cybersecurity
DSST Management Information Systems
DSST Computers
SL Business Statistics Open book
SL Business Ethics Open
SL American Govt Open
SL Accounting I Open
SL Accounting II Open
SL Business Law & Ethics Open
SL Business Ethics Open
SL Macroeconomics Open
SL Microeconomics Open
SL Business/Managerial Communications (find alternative if you can)
SL Programming in C++ / PennFoster (If I wanted a easier way of fulfilling programming req.)
TECEP Network Technology
TECEP Strategic Management (Capstone) Very difficult
TECEP Psych of Women
TECEP Eng Comp II & II
TECEP Marketing Communications
TECEP Computer Concepts and Applications
Penn Foster Financial Management (Principals of Finance)

as this would be the quickest/easiest way for me to get by BS. ALWAYS calculate what TECEPS you want first instead of waiting til the end when you need 20 or creds left, or else you may take classes for nothing!

[EI2HCB]

Hello everyone! eeya: Ive been stalking the forums for about 3 months and finally decided to post. I hope someone can answer a few questions and/or offer some tips! My main goal is to get a bachelors degree in business as fast as possible. Hopefully before my next birthday in 6 months. Im 26 and am now finally realizing that everyone I know is advancing in their careers and I'm stuck in a dead end job I hate. I have no college experience and only worked regular retail jobs. Sorry in advance for my newbie-ness. I'm still learning about this college stuff and dont really know the whole process of credits, transfers, etc. >_< I want to take some clep exams, transfer them to one of the big 3, and transfer the credits to a brick and mortar college. Is that possible? I would love to graduate from the university my grandmother graduated from. But if thats not possible, I would like to still get my bachelors in business as fast as possible, then apply at my grandmothers school to get my masters in public health. Will I also be able to qualify for financial aid if I went with one of the big 3? If anyone has any degree plans or other tips, I'd greatly appreciate it!

Is it possible? Sure if you are willing to work at it. I've been taking three years! If you want your degree from a Brick and Mortar college it will take longer since they all have a maximum amount of transfer credit and test options they will take. That's what makes the big three different, If you want it in six months without brick and mortar choose one of the big three. If you want to get credit for exam options at your local/state or out of state 4 year college you'll need to research what exams they will take. So choose your school and pre-plan either way you'll speed up the process, remember that a class at a Brick and Mortar school takes about 8 to 15 weeks to complete studying for a CLEP test can easily be done in four weeks, usually I study for about two weeks in order to pass. That saves tons of time. Some 4 year colleges will only take your CLEP tests on your enrollment with them so do your research. Feel free to ask lots more questions we are a community here and while each of us has our bias we do our best to assist each other on this road to our degrees.

[tinybubbles]

As far as the exams go, your B&M college has to accept them directly. They won't accept them just because one of the Big 3 did. Courses you take should transfer, but the exact policy is specific to the school. It would help if you laid your cards on the table. What school do you want to graduate from? Do you have any college credits? Can you be a full-time student or will you have to work full or part time while doing it? Then we can figure out your options.

Yes the Big 3 offer financial aid. You can certainly use a bachelors from one of them to apply for a masters, but knowing the school would help us judge your chances of success.

Anyway, 6 months seems very ambitious, but you can obviously beat 4+ years!

Thank you so much for your input. I would love to graduate from University of Hawaii at Manoa, I have never attended college, no college credits, and I plan on being a full time student. I spent my high school years in homeschooling so I know I'm a self starter and motivated when it comes to learning.

[tinybubbles]

Thank you everyone! You all have been so helpful! Thank you very much, I appreciate it!

I am definitely thinking about going with TESC. I'm no stranger to online learning since I was homeschooled through my highschool years. I also plan on dedicating myself fully to this goal and will be a full time student. 6 months is the goal, but it wont bother me if I take a little longer... as long as I finally do it.

I have a couple more questions if you guys don't mind. Could I knock out a few clep/dsst exams before I commit and enroll in a school and will it be transferred easily? Or do you recommend I enroll first, then start testing out. And will I be able to pay for the exams with the financial aid if I'm enrolled in a school? Thanks guys!