My DL degree plan

Discussion in 'General Distance Learning Discussions' started by Maxwell_Smart, Aug 9, 2006.

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  1. Maxwell_Smart

    Maxwell_Smart Active Member

    Hello everyone,

    I have a DL plan that I would like to get some opinions on.

    Here is the plan:

    I am taking an A.A. Business course at Ashford University (RA) - 61 credits ---

    A.A. Business Timeframe -- Should take 1 year to 1 year and a half with no testing out, and probably 7-10 months with some testing out.

    Since most of the Business courses in my AA program are also in the A.S. Psych program, I plan to take the credits from the A.A. Business degree and transfer them to Ashworth College's A.S. Psychology program (or a school that is just as cheap and offers the course entirely online... Please let me know if you know of any Psych program that fits that criteria).

    I was told by an advisor at Ashworth that they would accept at least 30 credits, and possibly a few more after a life/work experience evaluation (I have an extensive life/work experience resume, so I should be good there). This would leave me with, at most, 2 semesters to finish for the Psych degree (and half the cost!).

    A.S. Psychology Timeframe -- If by mail, it should take me about 6 months to complete. If by internet, it should take me about 3 months. I asked an Ashworth advisor if they would be offering Psych online any time soon, and I was told that this is in the works but no definite date has been set.

    After I finish the AA Business program and the A.S. Pysch program, I will have accumulated 121 credits... Since Excelsior is now accepting NA credits in addition to RA, I plan to take those 121 credits over to Excelsior for a Bachelors in Pysch... this is where I probably need the most insight...

    ... I'm pretty sure that Excelsior won't accept all 121 credits, but I'm wondering how good my chances would be to satisfy the entire Bachelors requirement with a combination of Credits/Life/Work Portfolio?

    BA/BS Psychology Timeframe -- I'm probably looking at a good 3 months for a full evaluation which would lead to a degree there without any coursework... and probably 6 months to a year if I'm left with needing to finish 30 new credits.

    After all of that is finished, I plan to start an online Master's program in Pyschology, perhaps.

    Masters Timeframe -- This one seems hard to ballpark. I've seen a number of Master's programs that are 33 credits, but I'm guessing that Psych would require a little more? I'm probably looking at a good 2 years here.


    Let me know what you think of this plan... what problems I might face with transferring credits... anything that might be helpful. I'll appreciate it :)
     
  2. Mighty_Tiki

    Mighty_Tiki Member

    The big hurdle which you probably didn't realize is the lack of upper division courses. All of the courses you will be taking are lower division for eithe associates. The qucikest way to a Psych degree if Excelsior was to take 90 cr. is to take the GRE in Psych and score in the upper percentile so you can take care of all the major requirements in one whack. Good luck to ya!
     
  3. Maxwell_Smart

    Maxwell_Smart Active Member

    Re: Re: My DL degree plan

    Please forgive me, but I don't understand that sentence...

    I guess I was under the impression that since Ashford would accept all of my credits from the A.A. Business program and the A.S Psych program from Ashworth for transfer to their BA Psych program, that I might have a shot to do the same thing at Excelsior instead (I'd like to have a New York State School on my resume, especially since I live in NY State) .

    However, if Excelsior doesn't take it, I can always transfer credits from the two degrees to Ashford's Psych program since I already know that they will accept it.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Aug 9, 2006
  4. RobbCD

    RobbCD New Member

    Re: Re: Re: My DL degree plan

    You will still need upper division credit to complete a BS, and that will be absent in both associate's degree programs.
     
  5. Maxwell_Smart

    Maxwell_Smart Active Member

    Re: Re: Re: Re: My DL degree plan

    The possibility of still needing to complete credits for the BA or BS is something I've anticipated... As long as a good deal of the 121 credits I'll have will transfer (like 90?), then its fine... I can deal with 30 more credits... maybe the assessment portfolio will knock some of the 30 out?
     
  6. Mighty_Tiki

    Mighty_Tiki Member

    I am not sure on how may will transfer to Excelsior but a good chunk will. I know that TESC will let you transfer in a lot of lower division (ie- 100,200 prefix courses as opposed to 300,400 courses) courses to meet requirements but I don't know what the limit is for Excelsior. Some schools set the limit of transferring 60cr from an associates program, while some allow up to 90+ cr. Someone who is more familiar with Excelsior here will be able to tell you the specifics. I would be very interested to see if they will transfer your Ashworth cr. as I will soon be an alumnus of theirs. If you do attempt the transfer please keep us informed of the steps that you take as there are many on this board interested in the process of transferring DETC cr. to Excelsior. Have a great day!
     
  7. RobbCD

    RobbCD New Member

    Ashford University is RA and not to be confused with Ashworth College, which is NA (DETC). Both are totally legit, but one (Ashford) is in a better place to transfer credit into an RA school than the other(Ashworth).
     
  8. Ted Heiks

    Ted Heiks Moderator and Distinguished Senior Member

    Agent 86?
     
  9. Maxwell_Smart

    Maxwell_Smart Active Member

    They should allow Ashworth credits... their site says that they accept NA credits now. I think it would be a discriminatory practice to not accept them. After all, if a student still has to finish 30 credits, Excelsior still gets paid.

    I won't be trying to transfer anything until I'm done with both degrees, so you'll probably be able to see what's up with all of this before I do.
     
  10. Maxwell_Smart

    Maxwell_Smart Active Member

    Re: Re: My DL degree plan

    Dammit. I've been foiled again :D
     
  11. Mighty_Tiki

    Mighty_Tiki Member

    "Should" is the operative word....There are quite a few hoops to jump through from what I have read on the new policy. I don't think anyone here has done it yet, at least with pure DETC credits that are not ACE evaluated. They will definately take the Ashford cr as they are RA and have been established for quite a while. ( I assume we are talking about the Ashford that is in Utah).
     
  12. Maxwell_Smart

    Maxwell_Smart Active Member

    Good point. The ACE thing will probably make a big difference. I was initially going to go with Penn Foster, I believe their courses are ACE evaluated. But, Penn Foster doesn't offer a Psych degree program... I think they have Child Psych, but I don't want to take that.


    Its in Clinton, Iowa.

    I looked at Utah Colleges and its listed here: http://www.50states.com/college/utah.htm

    ... But I don't know why, because they don't have a physical campus in Utah.
     
  13. Mighty_Tiki

    Mighty_Tiki Member

    Having courses ACE evaluated does make a huge difference in transferability. Excelsior will accept ACE recommendations for classes that have been evaluated, however not all satisfy a core requirement. I would focus on getting the Ashford degree done first that will give you a lot more utility in transferability. Then see what you can do with the credit transfer. Good luck and keep us posted on your journey!








     
  14. Maxwell_Smart

    Maxwell_Smart Active Member

    I'm gonna ask Excelsior about the ACE situation and what transfer problems might arise out of Ashworth programs not carrying ACE. Hopefully, the news won't be so bad.

    Of course, if the news is bad I can always transfer those credits into the Ashford Psych program. I really want to have a NY State school on my resume, so I'll look around to see what my options are on that.

    I start my program with Ashford, August 29th. I'll keep you posted ;)
     
  15. CoachTurner

    CoachTurner Member

    Here's my take:

    Excelsior will probably not accept all of your credits from both associate's degrees into their BA/BS liberal arts program. There will be some duplication, some inapplicable, and some that they won't allow (such as too much composition or too many computer applications or any PE activity courses).

    Your AA Business is going to have alot of credit in the applied professional category. Your AA in Psych may well meet much of the lower level major requirements.

    Between the two you will have met much of the general education, some of the major, and all of the elective credits.

    Excelsior College requires 30 hours of upper level credit in general and that major requires 15 upper level. It is very unlikely that you'll get any upper level credit transfer from an AA. The nature of an AA is that it is lower level.

    That said, you will definately need 30 hours upper level credit for the Excelsior bachelor's. You'll also need to meet the written english requirement and the information literacy requirement.

    Requirements for the Excelsior psychology major will change on Jan 1, 2007 but presently they are pretty generic.

    Some of your upper level can be done by testing (CLEP/DANTES/ECE) but I'd not expect to score high enough on the GRE to just walk away with 30 semester hours in psych. That requires a VERY high scoore indeed.

    It's a practical impossibility that an AA in Business and an AA in Psychology will equate to a BA in Psychology even with some experience credit by portfolio assessment. I'd expect to need about 25% new coursework/examination to degree completion at Excelsior using your plan.

    This is all assuming that you are able to transfer a large and significant portion of your previous work via Ashford and Ashworth to Excelsior and that it has application to their degree program.

    Instead of an AA in Psych (which has limitted vocational utility) -- consider a general liberal arts AA from a clearly RA institution that meets whatever general education requirements you have remaining for a BS in Psychology from Excelsior.

    Alternatively, match your existing credit to the Excelsior BS (psych) and see if getting an additional AA/AS is even time worthy. It's possible that you could use CLEP/DANTES/ECE for some remaining gen ed requirements and still only have 30 upper level hours to completion.
     
  16. Maxwell_Smart

    Maxwell_Smart Active Member

    I hear ya Coach!:D

    If I can be left with needing only 30 credits, it would be great. I know its a long shot, but its worth a try. I wouldn't mind needing to complete another 30 credits.


    You believe an AA in liberal arts may cover more of Excelsior's requirements? I'll have to consider this.

    It's not going to take me long to finish the A.S. in Psych from Ashworth since at least 30 of my credits will transfer to them. Its also going to be very inexpensive, so maybe I could finish the Psych degree and then take individual Upper level courses to satisfy Excelsior requirements for their BA/BS?

    From what an advisor told me, Ashford will only accept a maximum of 75 credits to their Bachelors program (and that's a combo of life/work + Ashford credits + Credits from other schools), so this means that only 15 of the credits from the Ashworth Pysch degree would transfer. I'd have to hope that Excelsior would accept more than 15 of my Ashworth credits, but it wouldn't matter as long as they accept around 90 combined (Ashford + Ashworth).


    Under normal circumstances, I'd say that getting a second Associates wouldn't be time-worthy. However, considering the extremely low cost of obtaining the degree in my situation, its just too good of a deal to pass up... not to mention the whole self-paced aspect of it ;)
     
  17. Myoptimism

    Myoptimism New Member

    Hi Maxwell,
    This would only be about 90 s/h anyway, 60 in original AA and ~30 for the AS. So best case, you are looking at 30 more s/h for the Bachelor degree. If it was me, I would junk the plan for the Ashworth degree and either finish the degree from a school offering an online Psy degree (like www.ccis.edu ) or through Excelsior, taking a combination of tests and inexpensive Psy courses (like www.is.lsu.edu ).

    Good luck,
    Tony
     
  18. Maxwell_Smart

    Maxwell_Smart Active Member

    That's what I'm REALLY hoping for. I've read that I could take a GRE, and if I score at or above the 80th percentile I can get the 30 credits. I'll have to study pretty hard for it, but that's something to consider after/if it's confirmed that 30 is all I'll need.


    I feel where you're coming from. My gripes with the Ashworth Psych program is that its not offered online. Doing this by mail could become a hassle in terms of sending things back, receiving new lessons; and I've read literally hundreds of complaints from Ashworth students that they've been sent the wrong tests, or their papers were graded wrong, then they had to wait for a long time for corrections, or just as long to receive the correct test.

    At the same time, the prospect of completing an entire degree in Psych for about only $1,500 (or less if they award me more than 30 credits with life/work eval) is an amazing bargain, and it will be an even greater bargain if Excelsior accepts at least half of the credits from that program combined with my 61 from Ashford (which would leave me needing only 29 or 30 to complete). From the prices I've been observing, by comparison, I'd have to pay 5-10 times that amount anywhere else


    The LSU program looks very interesting, and quite affordable. The online programs appear to be totally self-paced, which is ideal... This looks be a great place to pick up some needed credits.

    Thanks for the info!
     
  19. xygirl

    xygirl New Member

    Hi Maxwell_
    I just have a question for you.
    Can you give me the website or name of university where I could look at the requirements for a Masters in Psyc?
    I'm curious too in how long it'll take me. I'll be having my bachelor's in Psyc next year if I keep going fast...

    What are some job-options with a bachelor's degree in psyc. would you know?
    Thanks
    Rachel
     
  20. Pugman

    Pugman New Member

    Just out of curiosity, would tesc/cosc award a liberal arts BA/BS based on the 2 associates 'as is'? That is, would tesc or cosc be more accommodating in this situation that Excelsior?

    Greg
     

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