09-16-2016, 12:00 PM
welcome to the boards!
Dfrecore is giving you excellent advice, and she is excellent at degree planning.
I completely 100% understand you wanting an AA. I did too. In my case, my AOS didn't transfer into a bachelor's program, so I burned a lot of fuel trying to find a program that would take it- well, in the end, it was exceptionally faster and cheaper for me to start from scratch. When I did that, I felt like I wanted the AA since it was "extra" work than just going from the AA --> BA. It only mattered to me, I don't even list it on my resume
But, in the end, I had 220-something credits, so I wanted all the pieces of paper that reflected that!!
I all add something else to consider, and that is to consider you *may* end up wanting a master's degree. I know you're thinking "no way in heck, if I just get this AA I'll be happy" but I promise you that you'll be changed by this process, and I guarantee that you'll at least consider it. I don't have stats, but I would estimate the number of members here that start out wanting "any' degree and end up powering through a masters is astonishingly high. When you remove a lot of the ridiculous barriers, lower the cost, and add in distance learning, adults kick butt and can complete entire degrees here in months. It's true. That kind of momentum takes you forward!
So, with that in mind (even if you don't believe me, just humor me) a master's degree is hard to find good discounts for. There are cheaper programs of course, but in general, there are no shortcuts- you're going to have to do the time and pay. As such, if you think you would take a loan for that, you'll want to plan your undergraduate work (AA and BA) as cheaply as possible. You can do an entire AA -and- BA for under $10,000 and in under 2 years. Just something to think about.
Dfrecore is giving you excellent advice, and she is excellent at degree planning.
I completely 100% understand you wanting an AA. I did too. In my case, my AOS didn't transfer into a bachelor's program, so I burned a lot of fuel trying to find a program that would take it- well, in the end, it was exceptionally faster and cheaper for me to start from scratch. When I did that, I felt like I wanted the AA since it was "extra" work than just going from the AA --> BA. It only mattered to me, I don't even list it on my resume
But, in the end, I had 220-something credits, so I wanted all the pieces of paper that reflected that!! I all add something else to consider, and that is to consider you *may* end up wanting a master's degree. I know you're thinking "no way in heck, if I just get this AA I'll be happy" but I promise you that you'll be changed by this process, and I guarantee that you'll at least consider it. I don't have stats, but I would estimate the number of members here that start out wanting "any' degree and end up powering through a masters is astonishingly high. When you remove a lot of the ridiculous barriers, lower the cost, and add in distance learning, adults kick butt and can complete entire degrees here in months. It's true. That kind of momentum takes you forward!
So, with that in mind (even if you don't believe me, just humor me) a master's degree is hard to find good discounts for. There are cheaper programs of course, but in general, there are no shortcuts- you're going to have to do the time and pay. As such, if you think you would take a loan for that, you'll want to plan your undergraduate work (AA and BA) as cheaply as possible. You can do an entire AA -and- BA for under $10,000 and in under 2 years. Just something to think about.
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