Backdoor bachelor's business degree?

[rachel83az]

Welcome, OSSU-er! Let's see about answering your questions!

So that's all the background. Here are my questions:

Where does it make sense to apply? EC, TESU, COSC, all three, elsewhere?

Excelsior's a bit funny (and not in a good way) about getting a second Bachelor's degree. They require 30 UL credits since your first degree, in addition to whatever business core classes you might need. TESU's a bit expensive (at least by our standards) and a second degree would cost around $7-8k + whatever coursework you need. COSC restricts credit sources these days and isn't really the best option for a lot of people. For business degrees, we usually recommend UMPI these days. (More on them later) UMPI should be $3-4k for a degree.

When do you apply? Should I do it now or should I wait?

That depends - if you decide on TESU, apply ASAP. If you decide on UMPI, you'd wait.

Once you get transfer credit evaluated, do you still have the opportunity to use Sophia, StraighterLine, CLEP, DSST, etc?

With TESU, yes. You can keep transferring in credits all you want once becoming fully enrolled. With UMPI, you'd need permission to do this.

Let's say I take UExcels for this immediate need, but EC ends up not being the best bet for whatever reason. Can I transfer those to
TESU/COSC/elsewhere and have them show up on my transcript as graded course, or will they just be T for Transfer? Or will they show up as EX credit for examination?

If they want actual COURSEWORK for these classes, a UExcel probably isn't going to cut it no matter what. It shows on the Excelsior transcript as being an exam (though graded). At other schools, it should show a grade, but it will still show as being an exam (they have different course numbers than the same Excelsior courses). This is another good reason to choose UMPI.

What's the next step I should take right now?

Make a list of all the credits you have, including their grades, course number, and where they're from (see template in stickied thread). At both TESU and UMPI, your gen eds would be waived because of your prior degree. But you might be able to waive other classes, depending on exactly what you took and what their grade was.

...are there any screamin' deals in cheap MBAs-by-examination that I don't know about?

Yes, kind of. It depends on where you live and what your end goal is. WGU and Walden have competency-based MBAs, but they're not available everywhere. A lot of people are able to complete them in 1-2 terms, making them $6-12k (or so; I don't remember exactly off the top of my head). You can't beat ENEB's sub-$1k pricetag, but they're not for everyone.  

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UMPI's YourPace is competency-based, with most courses being passed by a single paper or project. Some courses (but not many) have exams instead of papers or projects. If Georgia Tech wants coursework, this is probably going to be your best, cheapest, bet. The cost works out to be $700/mo. (in sessions of 2 months each) and most people here are able to finish off a degree in 2-3 sessions. This is arguably the fastest way to a degree, too, as the required capstone at TESU (and the other Big 3) is at least 2 months and this doesn't take into account the other coursework you'd need to transfer in nor the fact that the other schools only graduate students a handful of times per year. UMPI awards YourPace degrees after every session (6 times per year).

UMPI does require 30 new credits with them for a second degree, but unlike Excelsior these don't all have to be UL credits. Again, most students here are able to complete these 30 credits in 4-6 months after starting at UMPI. Once you list your prior classes, we can advise as to what to take, and from where, to be able to enroll at UMPI for the next session. 

UMPI YourPace degrees: https://umpi.edu/yourpace

If you decide on TESU instead, here's a list of credit-by-exam (via Study.com, Sophia, etc.) degrees available: https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Sa...quirements You can ignore the gen ed requirements, because of your first degree, just focus on the business core & AOS links on that page.