Grrr... Can't take everything and get credit

OK, call me spolied. But I have broad interests, some deeper than others: Russian literature; medieval history; Eastern religions; creative writing; classical culture. The list goes on and on.

So whenever I complie a list of the courses I wish to take (in my case UNISA) every degree refuses some courses for credit. I can earn credit for X but not Y if I take path A. I can earn credit for Y but not X if I take path A.

Perhaps it is normal for all universities to require specialization. Perhaps this is for academic rigour and shows the dedication to one subject. I have been out of university for 25 years and frankly I forget how 'bad' it was in the seventies though I do recall highlining the university catalogue of my home town and thinking 'Hmm, what a candy store, it's impossible in one lifetime to do it all'.

I've narrowed it down to five different degrees. UNISA's BA (Arts and Culture) is rather accommodating but still doesn't give credit for studying Dostoyevsky (sp?). Neither does that degree give credit for the Modern Romance Literature in Translation courses (one novels, the other everything else).

Do other DL learners have this problem or do most of you focus on one area naturally?

 

A Dave Berg cartoon in Mad magazine showed a male hippie saying to a young woman, "I go to this great school. We get to take any courses we want. So I worked out this fantastic program," and proceeds to list a bizarre miscellany of courses, ending with "basket-weaving, and flower arrangements!"
The young woman says, "Great! What are you going to be when you graduate?"
The hippie suddenly looks sad, and says, "Unemployed."

But if you really want to "take everything and get credit", why UNISA? The Big 3, or British Columbia Open University, might well give you credit for all those courses.

 

Thanks for the recommendation

Why UNISA?

Becaue I want to study with a reputable university that is recognized by its peers as an institution with academic standards. If all I wanted was to take adult continuing education I could go to any local community centre.

I also need a BA for getting better positions teaching English in Asia. Some teachers buy fakes. I prefer to earn the real thing.

 

I have never recommended a fake. The Big 3 are Regionally Accredited, and BCOU is properly constituted in Canada.

 

Re: Thanks for the recommendation

As already stated, the Big 3 are regionally accreditied schools, just non-traditional. Graduates have gone on to further study at a veriety of Grad Schools. Yes, you might get strange looks from someone who has never heard of them, but I had never heard of 90% of the schools that tried to recruit me out of high school - they're just not big name schools.

Some teachers buy fakes, so it sounds like it doesn't really matter where it come from, except to you - and you can rest assured a degree from one of these schools is the real thing. The advantage to these schools is the ability to define your own concentration or major. As long as you can justify how those courses fit together to create a coherent plan of study, you should be fine - in fact, since you have a specific goal in mind, any courses that assist in that goal should work fine.

 

I would think that Charter Oak would salivate over your topics of interest. I don't understand why you are looking to UNISA for a bachelor's when one of the 3 mentioned colleges would easily fit your needs and be affordable as well.

 

My dear translator,

I do not understand the suggestions that you pursue your education with one of the "Big Three" (assessment colleges), rather than with UNISA. Not only would the "Big Three" be unable to provide you with the buffet of (presumably quality) course work that UNISA can, but their flexibility, although probably far greater than UNISA's, is not unlimited. For example:

Returning back to your original problem, I imagine your options are as follows:
1) Pursue an "honors" bachelor degree, which would increase your course load.
2) Pursue more than one degree.
3) Take whatever classes interest you -- in addition to those you *need* to take for a marketable degree -- and use the extra classes as electives (i.e. as 'excelsior' for your degree, collegiate pun intended <g>).
4) Wake up, realize that you won't live forever, and concentrate your limited physical/mental/financial recourses on just one productive purpose.

Personally, I'm going with items 2 & 3. <g>


Cordially,
Richard Kanarekfar

 

RKanarek writes:

> Not only would the "Big Three" be unable to provide you
> with the buffet of (presumably quality) course work that
> UNISA can,

The Big 3 will award credit for UNISA courses (if you go through the appropriate foreign credit evaluator), so the UNISA buffet is still there. And with BCOU, you don't even have to use an evaluator.

 

Hi Richard - Your strategy sounds appropriate. You can save item #4 for grad school.

Jack

 

Howdy Jack,

<g>

I think I may be a bit late for #4 :-(

Rather than reading my prattle, shouldn't you be reading SA newspapers? I, and I'm sure others, depend upon you to keep us informed!

Best regards,
Richard Kanarek

 

Possibly your interests can be divided into 2 degree programs.