Utility of Excelsior College degree

I am close to finishing my B.S. in Political Science at Excelsior College.
A month ago I applied to several British universities for traditional programs in international law or international studies/relations. I applied to ten universities, so far got accepted by six of them, rejected by just one, and still haven't heard from three others. Among the universities I got accepted to are the University of Glasgow (LLM in International Law) and the University of Warwick (MA in International Political Economy).
My Excelsior degree program is a mixture of credits earned traditionally, online courses and credits by examination (for example GRE).

Waiting for your comments ...

 

Hey Peter, I have one of those (BS Political Science Excelsior/Regents). Now, wasn't there a recent comment by a frequent poster that such a degree would only be useful if the owner wanted to teach elementary education? I wont embarrass that poster by revealing his name, but if B I L L D A Y S O N would care to send me his address, I mail him the humble pie I've prepared from the inferior innards of a deer

Warwick and Glasgow are big hitters, Peter. Could you list the complete crop of institutions, and the results against each. It makes for a useful reference.

Congratulations and thanks.

 

Accepted By:
- University of Glasgow (LLM in International Law)
- University of Warwick (MA in International Political Economy)
- University of Bath (MSc in International Policy Analysis)
- University of Leeds (MA in International Studies)
- University of Newcastle (MA in International Studies)
- University of Exeter (MA in International Studies)

Not Accepted By:
- University of Durham (MA in International Studies)

Not Heard From:
- Lancaster University (LLM/MA in Int'l Law/Relations)
- University of Nottingham (MA in International Relations)
- University of Birmingham (MA in International Studies)

 

For me, the usefulness of an Excelsior degree(gawd do i hate that name. can anyone tell me how in the world that name got chosen?) has been nothing to sneeze about but nothing to discount either. I'll break this up into 2 areas, Employment and School.

Employment:
I work in IT and I doubt that they even looked twice at my degrees. They mainly looked my experience, wherever I worked. I would think most people have who have an Excelsior degree have a good deal of experience in their field. Students there are generally older from what I have seen.

School:
Well, I got accepted to the following MBA programs: Notre Dame Univ., Indiana Univ., Colorado State Univ., and CSUDH. I chose CSUDH due to price and flexibility. Obviously, and excelsior degree was not an obstacle.

I notice that when Excelsior sends out there ballots for the Alumni Organization that a number of people have traditional doctorates from some fairly good schools here in the U.S. So, there looks to be no problem there. Harvard or Yale might give double takes on Excelsior but maybe not. Excelsior material says that Harvard and Yale have accepted Excelsior grads.

Bing

 

This are very encouraging words, Peter. Thanks for the information. What would be of interest to me, is the proportion of credits you earned by examinations, correspondence courses and by traditional means.
I'm just wondering if a degree earned nearly 100 percent by examinations would yield the same results as far as acceptance is concerned.

Dennis Siemens

 

My first USNY bachelor's was almost entirely by exam. The second was 100% by exam. The one and only time this was an issue was when I applied to San Diego State's AACSB-accredited MBA program. The program was two years, with the first year for people entering without a bachelor's in business. Because the Regents degree wasn't AACSB-accredited, they treated it like a non-business degree and evaluted me course-by-course. They completely ignored my credits by testing, giving me credit for one (of 10) classes. Yet they still admitted me. I didn't attend, opting for National University instead. My revenge: being appointed an assistant professor and the AFROTC commandant of cadets at SDSU from 1988-92 on the basis of my NU MBA.

Rich Douglas

 

Stop trolling for a flame war, Lawrie.

You had argued that members of the general public could acquire a bachelors degree in a month, purely by easy-to-pass examinations, without any need for study or any previous experience with their major subject.

I said that while the average intelligent and literate adult may have enough general background knowledge to approximate a bachelors in liberal studies (a general-education degree without a major, in effect), few of them already have the specialist knowledge equivalent to a specific university major.

I also said that either: a) a program that grants degrees to students who only have a layman's knowledge of their subject is academically substandard, or b) the ease with which one can earn a degree is being exaggerated, and some significant study of one's major subject is going to be necessary in most cases.

I have always been a supporter of credit by examination, so long as it is credible. My only complaint was that you were making it sound incredible, by claiming that it enables anyone who wants a degree to have one, in the subject of their choice, without the need to do any work to earn it.

I never said anything at all about the acceptability of Excelsior degrees in the UK or anywhere else. And I am certainly not intending to imply anything about Peter's achievement.

If you want to continue ths discussion, please restrict your remarks to the issues. If you insult me personally, I will simply ignore you.

 

Stop being so pompous and self-righteous, Bill. Enjoy the humor and try not to view every post with which you disagree as a lethal personal attack. As for "BA in 4 Weeks" perpetrating some dastardly trick on an unsuspecting public, my mail indicates most readers think otherwise, but if you know better, why don't you spend the time and effort required on the issue to produce something more worthy?

 

They say a falsehood left unanswered is a falsehood believed. Therefore. . .

Either produce the evidence to back up this fanciful imagining or withdraw it. This is where the rubber meets the road - no amount of long winded pontification will help you. If you have evidence demonstrating this is my position, quote it. If not, retract this dastardly calumny.

 

Off topic. I enjoyed your web site. I spent almost 3 wonderful years in Bayern. I loved the food, architecture, scenery, coffee, and the best beer in the world (even better than Canadian beer). I was heart broken when it came time to leave.

The Germans were gracious hosts considering some of the behavior of my fellow soldiers.

North

 

Thanks

Bayern is a neat place. Germany is a good country to visit but not really to live in. Trust me, life in the U.S. is more convenient. So come back for a visit but don't move here, unless you want to pay more than $4.00 per gallon for gas and give half of your income to the government ...

 

Well done Peter on the places that you've applied (and been accepted) to.

From first hand experience, living here in the UK and having a bit of experience with uni's and colleges and helping other students sort out their applications, I can say that you've done well with these acceptances. Durham would have been the 'tops' as they say, but that's OK. Warwick would be excellent. It costs alot na dis expensive to live (if you came here), but nevertheless a worthwhile investment. Congrats.

My advice, Warwick Uni every time, especially in the subject that you've been accepted for. If you get it though, Notts Uni would be a good one too. The UK government is very impressed by Post Graduate studies from both, particularly Warwick and employ a high percentage from there in trusted jobs.

Not that it is relevant though, but just to give you some scope of the value of such a degree and well done from what you did from Excelsior (Warwick and Notts).

Well Done,

 

Thank you, Welshboy. I still haven't heard from Nottingham. And I'm undecided still. I have to choose between Glasgow (LLM Intl Law), Warwick (MA Intl Pol Econ) and Nottingham (MA Intl Stud). A law degree from Glasgow sounds good, the Warwick degree sounds good too. And Warwick has great facilities. So what would you recommend? Warwick, Glasgow, or Nottingham? I'll have to decide some time soon.

 

Accepted by Nottingham

 

I've got one of those, too (BS PolSci Regents, 1986), and I'm enrolled in a Ph.D. program (nationally-ranked) in international relations at the George Washington University. Our last few grads have gotten tenure track jobs. That's a far cry from teaching elementary school...

Don Jacobsen

 

I've got one of those, too (BS PolSci Regents, 1986), and I'm enrolled in a Ph.D. program (nationally-ranked) in international relations at the George Washington University. Our last few grads have gotten tenure track jobs. That's a far cry from teaching elementary school...

Don Jacobsen

 

Congrats.

Jon Porter
(PhD Nottingham)