Hello all. First time poster here, although I do believe I have read every single thread from the beginning of 2004 to today. First I would like to say how much I appreciate both this website and those of you who post on it frequently. The guidance I have already obtained from you has helped me narrow my options and has given me enough knowledge to actually pose some of the following questions. That being said, I would be an ingrate if I didn't start this post off by saying, thank you very much. Besides expressing my sincere thanks, I do now have some more informed questions that I hope some of you can assist me with. Let me start by giving you a little background on me. I am a 37 year old big-box retail store manager, who has been in management now for almost two decades. My experience in this field has been with a large regional grocery chain, name of Delchamps, Toys "R" Us, Staples, and now Office Depot. So, when it comes to informal management education, I would say that I have a significant amount. Unfortunately, my formal education is not as extensive. I have an Associates of Arts with a focus in Business from an accredited community college (Pensacola Junior College). I also have 81 total hours of post-AA undergraduate credit from the University of West Florida. I was a less than ideal college student in my younger days, so my undergraduate work comes with a 2.47 GPA and is spread among several different business related degree fields. As such, even with 81 credit hours, my lack of focus on any given degree resulted in me spending a large amount of money and time without garnering that piece of lambskin known as a BA. The undergraduate work I have done spans the following degree fields: Accounting Accounting Information Systems Finance Management Marketing So, essentially I have 81 credit hours and am still listed on the university rolls as a senior (although at this point, I think they would have to go back into their archives to retrieve my information since my last semester in which I earned a letter grade was the fall of 1993). With that background information, here is what I would like to accomplish. I would like to earn my bachelor degree in as quick of a timeframe as possible. The field does not really matter that much at this point, but the accreditation of the university is a must. I would then like to take that either regionally or nationally accredited bachelor degree and use it to enroll in an AACSB accredited MBA program that can be completed solely by distance learning. Price of course is always a consideration and with the information I have gleamed from this board, I have found a couple of MBA programs that at first glance appear to meet my requirements. They are: Georgia Southern University and California State University The Georgia MBA appears to be a program that is ran jointly by several different universities in the state system and runs $350 per credit hour. The California MBA runs a bit less at $325 per hour. I may also have an option to attend Florida State University for only $285 per credit hour if I am still considered a Florida resident (I live in Georgia at the moment but maintain a residence in Florida as well). From what I can tell based off of discussions on this board as well as other sources, all three of the above schools have an excellent reputation regarding their MBA programs, and all also come with what is commonly seen as the highest level of business school accreditation. I have made several phone calls to these three over the last few days, but unfortunately have yet to get with the right person to discuss if an accelerated MBA program is available and that will also impact my decision. So, as you can see, I have an idea as to which direction I would like to go, but I would like to get your input as to: (1) How to garner an accredited BA in as short of time as possible that would qualify me for one of the above schools' MBA program. (2) The overall quality of the MBA programs I am looking at (3) If there are any other equally accredited MBA programs that can be accomplished via DL at a more reasonable price and at an accelerated rate. (4) Anything I might be neglecting to look at Your input on any or all of the above points would be greatly appreciated since up until I stumbled across this website, I did not know that DL was available to the degree it now is. With my retail work schedule a B&M university simply is not feasible, but an education and MBA via DL, combined with my experience (the actual retail store management experience makes up only a part of my overall business experience), would open up a veritable floodgate of opportunities for me. Thanks in advance for any help you can give me in this. I can't even begin to describe the excitement I am feeling right now at the possibilities I see because of the availability of a completely DL MBA. Thanks again. Damon
Damon, Welcome to the board. I would strongly recommend taking a look at Lawrie Miller's website: http://bain4weeks.com/. There is excellent information there about fast ways to earn an RA degree. Also, do a search on this forum for that, as well as what are known as the Big Three around here: Excelsior, Charter Oak, and Thomas Edison. These universities (I think I'm right in including them all) accept a lot of transfer credit, even beyond the time frame of other universities, and also provide other opportunities for credit, such as exams. For the MBA, if you do another search you'll find tons of information, including some very recent threads, IIRC. Good luck, and I'm sure you'll hear from others on the board that have gone this route. Regards, Adrienne
COSC I strongly urge you to submit official transcripts to COSC! I recently matriculated there and they accepted all of my 25-30 year-old RA credits with letter grades. You'll also find that they are VERY helpful, attentive to YOUR concerns and VERY EASY to communicate with. An official evaluation will cost you $175, but it is money well spent and if you matriculate they'll credit you the money. The information you get will be good and will be OFFICIAL. As one who did, I recommend you NOT waste $60 for the UNOFFICIAL evaluation that Excelsior offers. Good luck and best wishes! P.S. If you need inexpensive online courses that you cannot or do not choose to test out of look at http://www.is.lsu.edu/college/courses/ Less than $70/credit hour!
Thanks you two. I will definitely look at the three listed. One question on them though. Are their degrees accepted by most MBA programs? Especially the ones I originally listed, since those are B&M schools that have developed a DL MBA program that carries the accreditation I am looking for. And Gunsmoke, I did read about your problems with Excelsior and had planned to stay away from them. From what even their promoters had to say, they may just simply be overwhelmed at this point and not able to provide the level of service many people demand. I am glad to read that Charter was able to help you out and if their degree is able to do what I want it to do ... that being help me get into an AACSB accredited MBA program, then they may be exactly what I am looking for in a BA program.
Thorsen, keep in mind that AACSB schools like the GMAT as an entrance requirement and a 3.O GPA. If you miss on the GPA then your GMAT score needs to be higher. Bone up on statistics, writing, and if you can afford it a course for taking the GMAT. Also make sure you get all the prerequisites knocked out while completing your BA for the school from which you want to complete your MBA. Another area to consider http://www.electroniccampus.org/student/scripts/search/quickpsearch.asp?Term=16&TermName=Fall+2002 Look under the academic common market. These schools offer various programs to non-residents for resident tuition. Good luck and keep us posted on your success.
COSC! and aarbrooks! and Fed! Good advice ALL! Check out http://www.cosc.edu/ Every Friday afternoon there is an hour of live online chat available when you can post your questions. Also, call COSC ask to speak with an admissions counselor, they can give you an idea about grad school acceptance rates. I've interviewed with two online Grad programs, one of them AACSB, I informed both of them that my BSc would be from COSC and neither seemed to care who awarded it as long as it was RA! They were far more interested in GPA, and in the case of the AACSB GMAT, than where the undergrad degree was from. They both seemed FAR FAR more interested in HOW COMMITED I WAS to earn the masters than any other factor including GPA or GMAT scores. In fact both interviewers specifically stated that MY LEVEL OF COMMITMENT was the single most important factor. Call the AACSB schools you are interested in, speak with an admissions counselor and ask them! Things have really changed since I attended a B&M way bck in the '70's. I think you'll find the admissions process a whole lot more pratical these days than it was when pure academics ruled. They tend to really like adult learners these days because of the high success rates among our group. If GPA becomes a consideration taking 12 hours or so now and getting A's will cure a myriad of past sins! Trust me, I know, I REALLY, REALLY, REALLY, LOVE THE '70's! Chase your dream until it catches you!
aarbrooks, I just got through reading the entire website you linked me to and can't thank you enough. The link appeared familiar, so I know I saw it in another thread on this board, but for some reason it had fallen off of my radar. With the guidance given there regarding testing for credit, along with my previous B&M credits, I should be able to finish up my bachelors relatively quickly. Then, its on to the masters program At the risk of sounding insipid or repetitive, I have to once again say that the input from this website and the information you folks have pointed me to have completely reinvigorated me. I am quite good at what I do (retail management), but unfortunately, my lack of formal education has kept me from taking my career experience and garnering better employment. Just recently, I was looking at a job posting with another company that matched up with my skillset learned OJT, and would have meant a significant increase in both pay and position, but my lack of an MBA or Masters equivalent kept me from even being considered. Additionally, if I choose to remain in the operational side of retail, some retailers will not even consider me for employment (for example Home Depot) since I do not obtain the minimal education requirement of a BA and that list seems to grow with each passing year. Thanks again.
Here are my two cents: CSU Sacramento does have a DL MBA, but they are not very liberal in their transfer policy. They do conduct an upfront evaluation. They are AACSB. Their perception of DL is changing, just a few years ago, they were very much against DL. CSU has a straight formula for acceptance, with minimums, so check out their "procedures". They have been looked down upon due to this straight formula, with NO exceptions. There are LOTS of choices now a days, I would look at Florida State, I have heard their program is great. ASU has a GREAT reputation, not sure of the price. One item I would consider, which is a huge lessons learned for me, is to take a program that requires a thesis at the end. This thesis will be critical and aid if you ever decide to go for the doctorate. It will hurt you, especially overseas, if you do not have one.
You are more than welcome, but this board really deserves the credit -- that's how I found out about the site! Please keep us updated on what you eventually decide to do for both the BA and MBA. Another possibility to check out on the MBA is the University of Texas system. Although I didn't take any of their online classes, I did almost an entire MBA (3 classes shy) at the University of Texas at San Antonio, and was very satisfied with the quality of education I received, particularly from the Management dept. Regards, Adrienne
One other question that has come up from my following some of the links provided is this: Since some universities will accept a transfer of at least a portion of graduate level work (I am seeing quite a few that will accept up to 12 hours), then does that mean that I could conceivably test out some graduate level work and have those credits transferred from whichever of the Big 3 that I decide to go with to the university that accepts me for the master's programs? Does anyone see a problem with this? Thanks.
read the transfer stuff closely, usaually it states "B" or better grade. If testing does not provide a letter grade you may not help your cause.
FYI - Testing out... COSC does not grant a letter grade for testing out, just a pass/fail so it does nothing for your GPA. I don't know the policies on this from either Excelsior or TESC.
Perhaps I'm missing something. I think that I have read on this site in the past that CSU DH is AACSB. However, a look at both CSU DH's website and that of ACBSP show CSU DH as ACBSP accredited. A look at AACSB's website shows no mention of CSU DH (that I could see anyway). http://mbaonline.csudh.edu/online.faq.asp http://www.aacsb.edu/accreditation/AccreditedMembers.asp http://www.acbsp.org/educationallist.html I'll be happy to be wrong.
Thorsen, Have you looked at the Morehead State University MBA? http://www.morehead-st.edu/colleges/business/mba/
Amendment Thorsen, After thinking about it I did a search and it seems as though I've read that CSU DH is a candidate for accreditation by AACSB. For now they aren't accredited, but it doesn't look like you're looking for a MBA school for a year or two at least? So I guess you should keep an eye on it.
I found out some information on this by calling the admissions office for COSC directly and after speaking with them, I spoke with the registrars office, which evidently handles testing questions as well. According to the information I got from them, you are right .... and wrong. COSC does not give a letter grade for CLEP or GRE testing since the company that grades these only indicates a pass or fail. They do give a letter grade for Dantes testing since these tests when graded indicate a percentile score. All of that is great information to know, but the part that made me almost want to jump up and down about is this: After a nice conversation with an extremely helpful lady in the registrars office who took the time to listen to me explain about my earlier college experience that while enjoyable from a social standpoint left me with a less than stellar GPA (2.47), it was explained to me that prior to graduation, I could request specific classes be removed from my official record. Basically, COSC allows a transfering student to determine which course credits are transferred and which are not! I don't know if this is common, but for someone such as myself this is a tremendous help.
Excelsior also lets you determine which credits are transferred and which are not, and gives graded scores for many (not all) CLEPs as well as DANTES and ECE. TECEPS get pass/fail. Note, however, that a grad school will likely wish to see not just the "sanitized" version of your COSC/Excelsior transcript but the "real" one from your original college. This may not be an issue if the school only looks at the last 60 hours of credit when computing incoming GPA and you've done very well since your early days. This may give Excelsior a very slight edge over COSC if you can boost your GPA with CLEPs. Some exams are pretty easy "A"s such as Analyzing and Interpreting Literature. On the flip side of course, if you don't do well it will hurt you Cheers, Mark
