Should I Stay With National Univ. or Switch to Excelsior?

I understand that I'm the only one that can make this decision. I would just like to get some opinions that may help me with my thought process.

A quick backgrounder on my quest down the road of higher learning.

I am currently enrolled as a Psychology major (undergrad) at National University (online).

My college credits to date amount to:

Local Comm. College: 9 Credits- Music

U of P: 6 Credits - Writing Course and U.S. History I

Another Local Comm. College: 3 Credits - Cult. Anthropology

National University: 3 Credits - Intro to Communications

Total credits thus far = 21s.h.

OKAY, so now on to my dilemma...

I am getting quite impatient in my pursuit of a Bachelor's degree. At this rate, if I stick with National Univ., I won't graduate until around August 2008. Now, this may not seem like a long time to many of you, but to me it is!! So, with that said, I've been considering other options which would allow me to finish my degree in a faster manner.

Excelsior - I could enroll at Excelsior and pursue a BA/BS in Psychology through them, which would likely reduce my time to graduation by at LEAST a year, if not two years. Critical here would be a good score on the Psych GRE.

My main concern with Excelsior, would be acceptance into a Graduate program. Thus, I've been looking at three Grad schools, all of which have varying entrance requirements:

University of London External Programme - MSc Epidemiology or Public Health Would this University accept a degree from Excelsior?? I've heard conflicting reports on the UK acceptance of degrees earned from one of the "Big three".

University of Wales Lampeter - MA Social Anthropology - Again, will this school accept a degree from Excelsior??

NCU - Masters/PhD Psychology - Will NCU accept a degree from Excelsior? I believe the answer is "yes". Can someone confirm this??


Now, I have my degree plan at National Univ. scheduled for the next two years. My Gen. Ed. requirements will be completed by the end of July 2006. Should I stick it out at National Univ. until then, or should I bail now and begin studying for CLEP, DANTE and EXE exams? I'm tempted to stay until next July to finish up my Gen. Ed requirements, and then move over to Excelsior, but if I enroll at Excelsior now, I could be DONE with my degree by then!

OR, should I just suck it up and stay with National Univ. all the way through to my Bachelor's? Would this increase my chances of entering Grad School (at one of the three schools listed above)?

I'm looking for any suggestions from the fine members of this forum!

Thanks!
- Tom

 

Tom,

I think you and I are a lot alike. My main reason for going to Excelsior is the ease of transferability of credits and flexibility in the major of study. I am also one of the most impatient people you will meet! Since July 05, I have accumulated 55 credits toward my AS degree at Excelsior. I only had 12 credits from a local community college. If you have a love of learning like I do, then you will find studying for the exams to be both fun and easy. My advice would be to start studying for those CLEP/DANTES/ECE exams and start testing out of your GenEd requirements.

Below is a list of what I have taken and what is left for me to take. BTW, I'm in Excelsior's College Math course right now and I'm taking Social Psychology and Work and Occupations this semester coming up. I love the WebCT format and the instructor seems very nice as are all of the students.

CCBC Sociology
CCBC Computer Apps
CCBC English with Comp
CCBC Chemistry
DANTES Intro to Law Enforcement
CLEP Management
DANTES Organizational Behavior
DANTES Introduction to Business
DANTES Principles of Supervision
CLEP American Government
CLEP US History II
DANTES Criminal Justice
CLEP Introduction Psychology
CLEP Educational Psychology
CLEP Human Growth and Development
Excelsior Information Literacy
DANTES Environment and Humanity
DANTES Religions of The World
DANTES Here's to Your Health

Pending for AS completion:
CLEP Humanities
Excelsior College Mathematics

Additional credits needed for BA in Psych:
CLEP American Literature
DANTES British Literature
Excelsior Social Psychology-UL
Excelsior Work and Occupations- UL
DANTES Fundamentals of Counseling
DANTES Drug and Alcohol Abuse- UL
CLEP Marketing
DANTES Human/ Cultural Geography
ECE Abnormal Psych- UL
ECE Psychology of Adulthood and Aging- UL
Excelsior Psych Statistics
Excelsior Human Motivation- UL
ECE Research Methods in Psychology-UL
ECE Gerontology- UL
ECE Cultural Diversity UL
ECE HR Management- UL
ECE Labor Relations- UL

Rhonda

 

Oh, and if you are looking at graduate study, you should be sure to take a biopsychology course, maybe a Sensation and Perception course and an Experiemental Methods course (that one sounds fun ) My program is aimed more toward 'Social Psychology'.

Rhonda

 

1. Go the route that gets you the degree most quickly.

2. Go the route that gets you the degree most inexpensively.

3. Go the route that has the right mix of #1 and #2.

4. Go the route that best fits your learning style. (Courses vs. exams)


There is no simple answer, and it is best provided by you to yourself.

Either degree will do just fine in terms of getting into graduate school. No real advantages to either. However, a transcript full of testing credits (a la Excelsior) might be troublesome when an admissions committee is considering whether or not you meet their prerequisites.

(NB: My bachelor's degrees are from Excelsiors public predecessor--and my transcript is filled with credits by exam. My MBA is from National.)

 

I guess it all depends upon your ultimate goal. If that happens to be graduate school, and you think an Excelsior degree would present a problem, then I think you have your answer. If a degree from Excelsior would present not problem in further studies or job opportunities, then that is perhaps a better route for you to take. You will have to weigh the pros and cons and pick which one works best for you.

By the way, I am also just as impatient as you. A bachelors degree would work wonders for my career at this point. I have 80 credits available to me from my military training, and I could probably obtain a BA in Journalism in very short order from Thomas Edison State College. However, monetary constraints prevent me from doing so at this time. For now, I'm content to study for an Associates in Marketing from Education Direct, which I can afford. It is better than no degree at all. When my financial picture changes, then I will concern myself with the BA.

 

Thanks for the responses. I'm still mulling over what to do regarding my studies. I'm torn between finishing my degree in several months by attending Excelsior, or sticking it out with National, and likely have a more useful degree (when it comes to entering Grad school).

TCord,

I don't know if your employer offers tuition reimbursement, but if they do, you may want to look into programs that will allow you to defer tuition until (anywhere from 30 to 45 days) after the semester ends. In this way, you do not pay any tuition to the University upfront (however, you do pay for textbooks), rather you pay after the semester ends. This is the method that I am using to pursue my studies at National University. At $1044/course, there is no way that I could afford the school otherwise!

Anyway, there are other schools that offer this service too (Franklin University and Nova Southeastern come to mind).

If I've mentioned this option to you in the past, then forgive my lapse in memory. I have a new baby girl at home (7 weeks old!) and I'm a bit sleep deprived at this moment!

If your employer does not offer tuition reimbursement, you could always look at an inexpensive RA program, like the one at Peru State College (http://www.peru.edu). In reading another post, I understand that you are aware of this program AND that they will accept your degree from Education Direct. That's great, but why wait until you receive your Associates? You mentioned that you have 80 credits available from your military training. Do you know if Peru will accept this as credit for transfer into one of their Bachelors programs? Just a thought!

Good luck

- Tom

 

No, my employer does not offer tuition reimbursement, unfortunately.

I am seriously considering Peru. I am sure some of my military credits would transfer to Peru, however they do not have a distance journalism program, and most of my credits are journalism/communications-related.

As for getting my associates...well, I am interested in obtaining the education. I have never taken business or marketing courses before, and that is something I need for my future career path. It's a matter of wanting the knowledge the degree has to offer, rather than just the piece of paper that comes with it.

If I decide to get a BA in Journalism afterwards, I'm sure I would have most of the credits I need to get it through TESC. If I decide to continue in marketing, then I believe Peru would be a good bet.

 

Tom,

I just found some interesting info. on Peru State College's psychology department webpage that might be useful in your decision process. I'd missed this earlier, and to me, it's very important: their psychology classes are very writing-intensive. Also most mention "group projects" which I know some people have discussed here.

So for anyone who is considering studying psychology at Peru State, go to the department's webpage and drill down to the course listing. Many of the courses are hyperlinked to their syllabi - which is where the rubber meets the road, for me!

Also interesting note: there are two faculty who teach these courses. Both are collaborating on a research project in the Nebraska prison system. I think the Psychology Department's strong suit is built around the work these professors have done.

Good luck! How are courses at National going, btw?

 

Hi Rhonda!

Good to hear from you. Ugh, the "G" word, huh? Sorry to hear that. Actually, I was never seriously considering tranfering to Peru. This is mainly due to two reasons: 1) Tuition is not an issue for me since my employer is footing the bill AND 2) Given the fact that Peru only offers a couple of Psych courses per semester, it would take me forever to complete my degree! At least with National, I'm moving at a fast pace (one course/month). I still think that Peru is a good option for people with limited fundage (ha) and no tuition reimbursement options. While I'm sure that Peru offes a high quality program, the fact that Peru requires group projects for most of their courses does knock them down a peg in my book. YMMV.

As for National, my current class (Information Literacy & Report Writing) is going well so far. The "information literacy" part of the course is extremely simplistic (basic MS Office functionality), however I am responsible for writing a 6 to 8 page research paper, which I'm finding challenging (but fun too). My topic is on Positive Psychology (http://www.positivepsychology.org).

I'm still mulling over my options. I'm not looking forward to being in school for the next three years, but at the same time I would like to receive a decent education. Ah, decisions, decisions.

Presently, I'm looking at four separate scenarios:

1) Stick it out with National and take my BA with them.

2) Stay at National until the end of next May, which will allow me to complete all of my Gen. Ed requirements. At this point I would transfer to Excelsior. If I go this route, I'll take the Psych GRE in April.

3) Bag the U.S. Educational system altogether and apply for the BA in Social Anthropology at the University of Wales - Lampeter. This is another subject that I'm very interested in. The two possible downsides to this option are 1) My employer won't reimburse me for this degree AND 2) It will take three years to complete the degree!

OR

4) Stay at National until I accumulate 90 credits and then transfer directly to Athabasca University, immediately earning a 3-year Bachelors in General Studies degree. I would likely continue on with Athabasca after this to receive a 4-year degree.


So, the question is which door should I take - 1,2,3 or 4???


Anyway, how are your studies going at Excelsior? Have you completed your AA? I know you must be getting close.

- Tom

 

Hi Tom,

I think you had me confused with 'longwaytogo'! But it's good to hear from you anyway! I'm sorry to hear you are struggling with what you should do about your degree. Let's see, I would choose what's behind door #4, but only if you could test out of some of those gen ed requirements. I have heard positive things about Athabasca, too. Hmmm, do they offer Master's degrees?

How is the condensed format at National U treating you? I see you just had a baby girl a few months ago. It's hard, isn't it? My daughter just turned 17 months on the 21st. Time really does fly. Sometimes I feel guilty working full-time and then going to school and not having enough time to spend with her, but I guess I'm doing it for a good cause.

I have one more CLEP to take (Humanities or Analyzing and Interpreting Lit) and then I will have fullfilled all my Associate degree requirements! I'm expecting my degree to be conferred by Feb 06 at the latest. Then I will begin to plug away at the Bachelors in Psych by taking courses and some ECE exams. If you haven't noticed, I've been posting a lot lately asking for opinions about several Master's programs in Leadership, HR, and Management. I feel like I really need to decide on a program now!!! I know I have some time though. I considered National's Masters in Management, but seriously doubted being able to excel in a 4 week format. It doesn't seem to leave time for anything else.

I'm happy to hear your current course is going along more smoothly than the Geography course. Positive Psychology sounds like an interesting topic to research. Maybe I should look into it!

Rhonda

 

Have you considered taking general ed courses either through a local community college online or through inexpensive distance learning courses, such as Louisiana State University (is.lsu.edu)?
Enrolling in two schools would help to get your courses done faster and you should be able to transfer the general ed's into National (or any school you transfer to).

 

If your only concern with Excelsior is acceptance into a graduate program you should not not have too much to worry about. An Excelsior degree will get you into graduate school about as well as any other degree. I've made it into 3 graduate programs with my Excelsior BSL, with no trouble. As a general rule if you have a good gpa and a decent gre you will get in. Excelsior seems too good to be true, but it's one of the few good opportunities that has no catch.

 

I can't say anything about a masters program accepting an Excelsior degree

but I very much doubt that any grad school would accept a psych degree that was completed entirely through one exam, the GRE

I believe your transcript will say something like

Psychology 30 credits GRE exam

that is not impressive, no matter high you score

you're going to have to have individual courses/exams

here's a list of 12 exams and one course. Even tough it is mostly exams, it will look so much better on a transcript than the single GRE exam

Introduction to Psychology 3 credits CLEP
Statistics 3 credits Excelsior exam
Social Psychology 3 credits Excelsior Exam
Developmental LifeSpan Psychology 3 credits Excelsior Exam
Educational Psychology 3 credits CLEP
Physiolgical Psychology 3 credits University of Alaska Fairbanks Independent study
Abnormal Psychology 3 credits Excelsior exam
Behavioral Genetics and Individual Difference 3 credits OSU exam
Psychology of Health and Illness 3 credits OSU exam
Research Methods In Psychology 3 credits Excelsior exam
Psychology of Personality 3 credits TESC exam
Fundementals of Counseling 3 credits DANTES exam
Behavior Modification Techniques in Counseling 3 credits TESC exam


throw in
World Conflicts since 1900 Excelsior exam
World Population Excelsior exam
Consumer Health BYU independent study
Community Health BYU independent study
Principles of Epidemiology BYU independent study

and you've got a pretty good transcript, I think University of London may even accept it, but I have no idea

all of those courses/exams are under $450, most are under $300

do you have the discipline to study on your own without weekly assignments and exams due?

 

James, et al.

Thanks for the feedback. I'm in the middle of a Intro stats course at National Univ. right now and it's kicking my butt! Of course, being a Psych major, this is a necessary course, so I just need to step up and "git 'er done."

Anyway, after this course is over, I might take a month off (a new course starts each month at National) and re-assess how I am to obtain my educational goals.

James - Thanks for the list of courses and exams. This is very helpful.


Thanks!
- Tom

 

Hi Tom,

So, you, too, are statistically challenged? Who isn't! Glad to know we are both biting the proverbial bullet here - I was wondering why I signed up for this punishment when things were going so well.....but as you said, it's part of the degree and we may as well do it, it'll help us in our other studies. Last semester I recall things like "the Mean of this sample is...." and had a queasy feeling that the other students, who were seniors on campus for the online course I took, probably knew what that meant more accurately than I did!

Well, this semester, I jumped into a 4 hour course in Statistics for the Behavioral Science, after searching for an acceptable transfer to my home school, who doesn't offer this course and the Experimental course (also 4 hours) by distance.

It was, for me, another strange twist in the tale of obtaining my Bachelor's in Psychology via distance! I begged the other state-supported institution to accept me as a "visiting" student, using the explanation that my "home" university didn't have the course available in our part of the state. They had to make a special exception to let a visiting student take this course, which they hold like the Ace of Spades as a "Core Requirement"!

It's rough, but I took some consolation in the online course syllabus I saw at the following website: .
I guess these courses are rough no matter how you take them!

Well, keep me posted on how you get through this!!! (!HELP!)